The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) looks to drive innovation in the nuclear energy field. Developers can propose a work scope and the National Labs can execute that work scope to minimize the additional costs of building and troubleshooting new facilities.

There is nuclear technology information from a variety of prior government agencies that is often “lost” to the present. GAIN is looking to relocate that information and make it available. GAIN has a website. There is a coal to nuclear program. There is an industrial outreach program. Process heat applications as well as power are being considered. They are trying to find out what industry needs in these areas. Idaho National Labs is trying to establish an integrate energy system to consider all aspects of energy and then see where nuclear fits in. There is a lot of focus on hydrogen as an energy carrier.

The GAIN Voucher program started in 2016 and $26 million has been awarded to date. GAIN Vouchers are open to support multiple areas for advanced nuclear applications. End users can potentially make use of this resource. There is a 20% cost share requirement. The next cycle is due Jan. 31st. There are 4 cycles per year. Typically, these are one-year studies in the range of $100- $500 K. Summary results for each completed study are available on the website. There are two test beds for SMR projects. There are 6 SMR projects and 2 micro reactor projects that are on the timeline for the next 6 years.

Christopher Lohse, DOE Idaho Lab