IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) has awarded 28 proposals to support the advancement of nuclear science and technology by providing access to world class capabilities at no cost to the researcher. This is the second award for FY 2023.

28 new Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects, totaling approximately $1.74M, have been awarded. These awards went to 19 principal investigators from universities and 9 from national laboratories.

The NSUF competitively selected these projects from a pool of quality RTE proposals submitted during the solicitation period. Proposals were evaluated based on a variety of factors including technical approach, mission relevance, and scientific-technical merit.

NSUF recipients do not receive direct financial awards. Access to state of the art experimental irradiation testing, post irradiation examination, INL high performance computing, and technical assistance for the design and execution of projects is provided at no cost to the recipients. 

Prospective researchers are encouraged to request samples from the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Library. The NSUF will give special consideration to Principal Investigators from Minority Serving Institutions.

The NSUF, managed by Idaho National Laboratory, provides unparalleled opportunities for nuclear energy researchers. Through the RTE solicitation, researchers can access capabilities such as irradiation, post irradiation examination, beamline, and high performance computing equipment. RTEs are also accompanied with the expertise necessary to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear fuels and materials in support of DOE-NE’s mission.

The next RTE call has opened and will close on June 28 at 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time. The NSUF endeavors to balance the distribution of funds in a single call to impact a broad group of researchers. To do so, the NSUF may limit the number of awards to a single partner, a single institution, a single research group, self-applications, awards to non-US institutions, and may decline proposals with very large budgets out of proportion to the guidelines. The NSUF may award CAES-only or HPC-only applications, even if their scores are below the threshold for the RTE call. The NSUF may also restrict awards to applicants who have a poor record of completing awarded RTEs within the nine-month period and/or have a poor record of timely publication and/or acknowledgment of NSUF-funded research.

Find current and past awards here. Visit NSUF at https://nsuf.inl.gov.