Strategic Nuclear Research Collaboration - FY99 Annual Report

Abstract

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has created the Strategic Nuclear Research Collaboration. The SNRC brings together some of America's finest laboratory and university nuclear researchers in a carefully focused research program intended to produce ''breakthrough'' solutions to the difficult issues of nuclear economics, safety, non-proliferation, and nuclear waste. This integrated program aims to address obstacles that stand in the way of nuclear power development in the US These include fuel cycle concerns related to waste and proliferation, the need for more efficient regulatory practices, and the high cost of constructing and operating nuclear power plants. Funded at an FY99 level of $2.58M, the SNRC is focusing the efforts of scientists and engineers from the INEEL and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to solve complex nuclear energy challenges in a carefully chosen, integrated portfolio of research topics. The result of this collaboration will be research that serves as a catalyst for future direct-funded nuclear research and technology development and which preserves and enhances the INEEL's role as America's leading national laboratory for nuclear power research. In its first year, the SNRC has focused on four research projects each of which address one or more of the four issues facing further nuclear power development (economics, safety, waste disposition and proliferation-resistance). This Annual Report describes technical work and accomplishments during the first year of the SNRC's existence.