The topics below are of interest to the NRC and are provided for your
awareness/consideration.
• Probabilistic Risk Assessment (e.g., human reliability analysis, organizational factors, natural hazards risk, and common cause failures)
• Fire Risk Analysis
• Innovative radiation detection technologies for minimizing groundwater contamination at nuclear power plants.
• Risk-informed decision making (Decision making under uncertainty)
• Nuclear-safety related text mining and analytics
• Risk communication
• Fuels and Neutronics (e.g., nuclear data, lattice/core physics, transport, shielding criticality safety, and sensitivity uncertainty methods and analysis)
• Accident tolerant fuel performance
• Modeling and simulation of metallic and Tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel
• Thermal-hydraulics (e.g., fluid mechanics, experimental programs, multi-physics methods, or computation)
• The development and benchmarking of multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in reactor fuel bundle geometries to facilitate modeling of reactor accident scenarios using 3D CFD methods.
• The development and benchmarking of thermal radiation modeling approaches for use in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of steam, air, and hydrogen environments in reactor containments during severe accident scenarios. • Accident-Progression (e.g., performance of safety relief valves, fuel damage modelling and analysis, fission product release models and analysis, containment thermo-hydraulic responses, severe accident induced steam generator tube rupture)
• Consequence and Emergency Preparedness (e.g., radionuclide dispersion and migration, long-term post-accident recovery health and economic impacts)
• Approaches for probabilistic modeling of dispersion and dose from radiological releases in complex terrain (mountain/valley flows, land/sea breezes, etc.)
• Benchmarking of simplified methods for near-field atmospheric dispersion affected by building wakes against state of the art dispersion modeling methods
• Characterization of the variability in potential public doses due to variability in building occupancy patterns during severe accidents
• Quantitative evaluation of non-radiological health impacts of evacuation and relocation following severe accidents
• Methods for estimating costs and durations for post-accident cleanup and recovery following severe accidents
• Evaluation of uncertainties in evacuation mobilization time
• Radiation Protection Analysis and Radiochemistry (e.g., including internal dosimetry and modeling, radiobiology assessment in the low dose/dose-rate area, and radiation epidemiology in the low dose/dose rate area)
• Advanced non-light water reactors (e.g., material degradation, safety systems, non-traditional fuel concepts, safety systems)
• Heat transfer and fluid flow in molten salts and liquid metal coolants.
• Physical properties and chemistry of molten salts, including tritium production
• Heat pipe modeling and simulation
• Materials engineering (e.g., metallurgy, corrosion science, fracture mechanics, advanced manufacturing, modeling, non-destructive examination)
• Civil and structural engineering (e.g., steel and concrete structural design, loading analyses, impact analyses, concrete degradation)
• Seismology (e.g., probabilistic seismic hazards assessments, ground motion modeling)
• Digital instrumentation and controls (e.g., systems design, software engineering, hazards analysis)
• Electrical engineering (e.g., electrical power systems design, electromagnetic pulse mitigation)
• Cybersecurity
NRC is also interested in research proposals that address characterization, handling, storage, or disposal of waste streams (including used fuel) from the various advanced reactor designs that are currently under development.
Scholarship
The primary objective is to support scholarships for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. The nuclear-related discipline supported by this funding is intended to benefit nuclear safety and security sector broadly. A listing of topics of interest are listed in the Program Objectives section of the Announcement
Fellowship
The primary objective is to support fellowships for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. The nuclear related discipline supported by this funding is intended to benefit the nuclear sector broadly. A listing of topics of interest are listed in the Program Objectives section of the Announcement.
Faculty Development
The primary objective is to support faculty development for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. Proposed faculty can only be supported under one grant for up to one 3-year period or the grant expiration date. Supported faculty cannot be supported on consecutive/multiple grants.
The objectives are to attract and retain highly-qualified individuals in academic teaching careers. The grants specifically target probationary, tenure-track faculty during the first 4 years of their career and new faculty hires in the following academic areas: Nuclear, Mechanical, Civil, Environmental, Electrical, Fire Protection, Geotechnical, Structural and Materials Sciences Engineering as well as Health Physics. A listing of topics of interest are listed in the Program Objectives section of this Announcement.
Grants may include support for developing applications for new research or continuing research projects in their areas of expertise. The program provides support to enable newer faculty to enhance their careers as professors and researchers in the university department where employed. The research supported by this announcement is intended to benefit the nuclear sector broadly.
Scholarship: up to $200,000 over 2 years; Fellowship: up to $400,000 over 4 years; Faculty Development: up to $450,000 over 3 years, requiring a $50,000 match.
Eligibility
All scholarship, fellowship, faculty development, and trade schools and community colleges students and supported faculty must be United States citizens or a noncitizen national of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Noncitizen nationals are persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Students must have full-time status at the recipient institution. Individuals on temporary or student visas, as well as refugees and asylees, are not eligible.
Submission Process
n ONE PDF, please provide: 1. A one-page, 12-point font, one-inch margin cover letter, including PI name, department/division, school/college, type of application (scholarship, fellowship, or faculty development), project title and brief summary of the program and a concise statement of the project’s objectives and benefits And 2. An NIH or NSF style biosketch Please send this PDF as an e-mail attachment to Stephanie Endy at stephanie.endy@case.edu by 5pm EST November 5, 2018.
Typically: “Final nominees will be notified of their selection by November 6, 2018.”
Typically: “Final proposal must be received by the Office of Research Administration by November 27, 2018 at 5:00pm EST.”
Typically: “Final proposal must be received by the sponsor by November 30, 2018 at 5:00pm EST.”