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Program Description

(Additional program description may be found in the official Program Announcement. Applicants must read the full program announcement before applying.)

The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative performs research to develop the advanced technologies needed to change the nuclear fuel cycle to one in which used nuclear fuel is recycled. This approach will allow the United States to separate used nuclear fuel into waste and usable components, allowing reactors to extract additional energy, and providing options for more effective management of the residual waste.

Advanced recycling technologies can separate uranium and other fissile and fertile materials from used nuclear fuel and recycle that material in nuclear reactors to generate additional electricity. The long-term goal is to consume the extracted transuranic elements (e.g., neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium), in fast reactors to reduce significantly the quantity of high level waste requiring disposal in a repository.

Improving the way used nuclear fuel is managed will facilitate the expansion of nuclear power in the United States and encourage civil nuclear power internationally to evolve in a more proliferation-resistant manner. The United States and other countries having the established infrastructure could arrange to supply nuclear fuel to countries seeking the energy benefits of civilian nuclear power, and the spent nuclear fuel could be returned to partner countries for eventual disposal in international repositories. In this way, foreign countries could obtain the benefits of nuclear power without needing to design, build and operate uranium enrichment or recycling technologies to process and store the waste.

AFCI/GNEP University Fellowship Program Goals

The AFCI/GNEP University Fellowship Program is part of the AFCI/GNEP program’s effort to support the stability of the national nuclear education infrastructure and foster research partnerships that strengthen the nation’s nuclear science and technology base.

The AFCI/GNEP University Fellowship Program goals are:

• to support U.S. citizen and Permanent Resident Alien master’s degree students at colleges and universities throughout the United States,
• to promote academic opportunities for highly motivated students in nuclear-related science and engineering disciplines,
• to strengthen the academic and research infrastructure necessary to advance the state of the art in nuclear and fuel cycle science, engineering and technology,
• to engage creative academic talent in research areas needed to support AFCI/GNEP research and development programs,
• to strengthen relationships between universities and DOE laboratories, and
• to expand student/National Laboratory/DOE interactions.

Each fellow's research is expected to be an integral part of the AFCI/GNEP research program and contribute directly to AFCI/GNEP research objectives.

Additional program description may be found in the official Program Announcement. Applicants must read the full program announcement before applying.