Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 1242015 | ANNUAL REPORT 7 FROMTHE NSUF DIRECTOR J. Rory Kennedy Director (208) 526-5522 rory.kennedy@inl.gov In the eight years since the Nuclear Science User Facilities program was conceived, the staff has worked tirelessly to create a framework that enables nuclear energy research.This year, we have built on this framework with the creation of the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database. It’s a web- based, searchable resource of nuclear research-related capabilities including reactors, instrumentation and other information from U.S. institutions. Interest appears to be robust with the expanding set of NEID users from 34 federal government and national labo- ratories, 22 universities and nongov- ernmental organizations and five industry organizations.The database was deployed in November 2015 and received a great deal of attention when it was promoted as part of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear, or GAIN, initiative. Speaking of GAIN, I’m excited about the NSUF’s role in this important initiative. It will lead to easier access by business entities to technical and regulatory support to move new or advanced nuclear reactor concepts and designs toward commercialization Our researchers are gaining scientific prominence by publicizing and docu- menting research results through peer- reviewed journals and presentations at conferences.We recorded the highest number of journal publications in NSUF history in FY 2015 with 33.That beat the previous high of 28 in 2013. We’ve also made it easier for people to access these publications online by modifying the NSUF website to include a field for a URL in the publication database. Now with just one click, it’s possible to actually read or download an article instead of only being able to view a citation. This year, we established dedicated technical leads to assist and partner with our users as they propose and conduct research.These leads – Thomas Maddock,Assel Aitkaliyeva and Donna Post-Guillen are some of INL’s best and brightest and their expertise has been exceptionally valu- able to our organization.You can read more about the tech leads and their individual scientific accomplishments in an article in this publication. while ensuring the continued safe, reliable and economic operation of the existing reactor fleet.That’s a big deal for NSUF and falls right in line with our mission as the Office of Nuclear Energy’s only designated nuclear energy user facility.We will continue to facilitate fundamental research that will serve as a foundation for GAIN as it aims to elevate innovative concepts to a commercial readiness level. As our program has matured, more users are learning about the oppor- tunities we offer for nuclear research and, as such, more research is being proposed. In FY 2015, the NSUF conducted three solicitations for Rapid Turnaround Experiments and, for the first time, integrated its annual call into the 2015 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research Funding Opportunity Announcement.The RTE solicitations drew 47 proposals and resulted in 30 awards to researchers from 17 different institutions.The FOA drew 41 letters of intent with final submissions of 17 full applications resulting in five awards totaling $4.2 million in support.We expect to grow and be able to support more in FY 2016.