DOE/NRC Collaboration for Criticality Safety Support for Commercial-Scale HALEU for Fuel Cycles and Transportation (DNCSH)
The DNCSH project is currently in the planning process for the second proposal call for experiment and analysis work packages (EAWs) that is anticipated to be announced in early 2025.
In preparation for EAW Call #2, the Benchmark Gap Assessment provides details about the areas needing additional exploration and will be used to shape the call's request for proposals.
Information about the public workshop for Call #2 will be available shortly.
Information about the previously executed Call #1 is available below:
The DNCSH project is seeking proposals for EAWs that support criticality safety for commercial-scale high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), defined as 5 to 20 wt% 235U, within fuel cycle stages relevant to 10 CFR Part 70 and Part 71. The following documents are provided as part of this call:
- Call for EAW #1
- Notes from EAW #1 Information Session
- EAW Proposal Template
- Workshop #1 slides
- Workshop #1 Q&A summary document
- Benchmark Applicability Summary Report
To be added to the mailing list for the Information Meeting for Call #1, send the request to dncsh@ornl.gov, or click the "Contact Us" button below.
Event Date
Draft Call #1 Announced: April 15, 2024, at 5:00 PM EST
Information Meeting: April 22, 2024, at 1:00 PM EST
Finalized Call #1: April 26, 2024, at 5:00 PM EST
Notification of Intent to Apply: May 3, 2024, at 5:00 PM EST
Email dncsh@ornl.gov
Deadline for Proposals: May 31, 2024, at 5:00 PM EST
Must be submitted by a national lab representative to this system.
Notification of Awards: August 30, 2024, at 11:00 AM EST
U.S. Department of Energy Awards $17 Million for First Round of HALEU Criticality Benchmarking Projects | Department of Energy
About
The DNCSH project is a result of Part (a) of Section 2001 “Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability” of the 2020 Energy Act (Public Law No. 116-260) and the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) to support the “availability of HALEU for civilian domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial use.” This work is focused on Part (a)(2)(A) and Part (a)(2)(C)(ii), executed as a collaboration between the DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
As described in the Act, the objective is the “availability of HALEU for civilian domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial use.” In other words, enable a HALEU fuel cycle. Included in availability is the necessary data to support its commercial use, specifically in areas licensed under 10CFR70 (facilities) and 10CFR71 (transportation), including both front-end and back-end.
The use of HALEU enrichment, forms, quantities, etc., is dependent on many factors, particularly the reactor design and its needs. This effort will thus review various reactor driven fuel cycles, their criticality safety impacts, other methods and data needs, and issue targeted calls for proposals to meet the project objectives below:
• Enable higher throughput fuel cycle processes.
• Enable higher capacity transportation package designs.
• Reduce licensing uncertainty by enabling quality industry submissions through publicly available data, and
• Fewer requests for additional information from NRC to industry related to nuclear data, code validation, and criticality safety.