The Department of Energy this week reissued a $900-million funding opportunity for small modular reactor deployment. Co-administered by the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the program is an update to an opportunity initially issued by the Biden administration and funded by 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The initial solicitation for the “Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Pathway to Deployment Program” was issued last summer, with submissions due on the last business day of the Biden administration. However, the Trump DOE will not be evaluating any submissions made under that first solicitation, according to an automatic reply email about the program.
“The DOE team has reissued the GEN III+ SMR solicitation and modified it to align with the policies of the Trump administration,” the email said. “All requirements for community benefit plans and any related elements have been removed. All entities that previously applied will need to revise their applications, as appropriate, to include the removal of any community benefit plan information and re-submit their application in its entirety.”
According to DOE press secretary Ben Dietderich, new applicants are also welcome to apply.
Under the first solicitation, funding applicants were required to submit “a plan for ongoing, meaningful engagement with the host community, workforce, and other stakeholders, as well as with impacted or potentially impacted Tribal Nations that will result in the delivery of benefits in line with local priorities.” Dietderich clarified that the 20% weight given to these plans has been removed; this time around, “the selection of awardees will be solely based on technical merit,” according to the new solicitation.
DOE “is accelerating the development of American nuclear technology and ensuring the American people’s access to reliable, abundant, and affordable energy is the number one priority of all Energy Department projects,” Dietderich told Latitude Media in an email.
Among those that had already submitted requests for funding is the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally-owned electric utility corporation, alongside partners that included Duke Energy, AEP, and the Electric Power Research Institute. TVA sought funding for construction of an SMR at its Clinch River Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The addition of federal funding, TVA said in January, would bring the project online in 2033, two years earlier than originally planned.
With the exception of the community benefit requirements, this latest round of funding follows essentially the same structure laid out in the prior administration. Up to $800 million will be available to support up to two “first mover” projects, while an additional $100 million will be available for “fast followers.”
OCED, which is managing the program alongside the agency’s nuclear energy office, is also in charge of projects like the $3.5 billion DAC hubs and $7 billion hydrogen hubs programs, which are both also funded by the BIL. However, the office is reportedly central to the Trump administration’s “hit list” of projects it will work to eliminate.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 26 to add comment from DOE press secretary Ben Dietderich.
