U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Scholarship and Fellowship Education Grant, Faculty Development Grant, and Trade School and Community College Scholarship Grant, Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 | 31310020K0002

FAQs: NRC FY 2020 Education-Focused Grants (FOA 31310020K0002, CFDA 77.008)

1) What is this funding opportunity?

This is a Fiscal Year 2020 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for education-focused grants. The stated purpose is to strengthen the nuclear workforce and support the NRCs evolution toward a more modern, risk-informed approach to regulation.

2) What is the program trying to accomplish?

Based on the FOA description provided, the NRC is looking for proposals that do three main things: (1) build talent pipelines (students and skilled trades), (2) improve academic capacity (faculty development and program strength), and (3) align education, training, and related research with NRC regulatory needs, especially in emerging and high-impact technical areas.

3) What kinds of grants or pathways does the FOA include?

The opportunity is structured around multiple education and training pathways, including:

• Scholarship and Fellowship Education Grants
• Faculty Development Grants
• Trade School and Community College Scholarship Grants

4) What is the activity category of this grant program?

The FOA is described as a discretionary grant program in the Education activity category.

5) What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?

The CFDA listing provided is 77.008.

6) What is the Funding Opportunity Number?

The Funding Opportunity Number provided is 31310020K0002.

7) What is the application deadline listed in the announcement?

The application closing date stated in the provided text is May 8, 2020.

8) What is the maximum award amount?

The maximum award amount (award ceiling) stated in the provided text is $450,000.

9) Does the FOA say how many awards will be made?

The provided text notes that the FOA does not clearly state the total number of expected awards. It does indicate that the opportunity is competitive and that the NRC intends to fund projects that directly contribute to NRC-relevant mission outcomes and workforce readiness.

10) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants primarily include institutions of higher education, including both public/state-controlled and private institutions.

11) Does the FOA emphasize participation by Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)?

Yes. The FOA explicitly emphasizes broad participation across a range of Minority Serving Institutions and other designated institution types. The list provided includes:

• Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs)
• Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AAPIs)

12) What is the NRC looking for in a competitive proposal?

From the information provided, the FOA signals competitiveness and a preference for projects that clearly connect to NRC mission outcomes and workforce readiness. In practical terms, that means proposals that strengthen education and training pipelines, increase faculty and program capacity, and focus technical learning and research on NRC-relevant regulatory challenges.

13) What major technical themes does the FOA focus on?

The focus areas described span a wide range, but the unifying theme is building the scientific, engineering, analytical, and operational foundations needed to regulate existing nuclear power plants and advanced reactor technologies. The FOA places notable emphasis on advanced reactors, risk-informed methods, modern digital tools, hazards, emergency preparedness, and waste management.

14) Are advanced reactors a key emphasis?

Yes. A major emphasis described in the FOA is advanced non-light water reactors (non-LWRs), including microreactors and systems involving molten salt, liquid metal, and high-temperature gas environments.

15) What non-LWR technical topics are mentioned?

The provided text lists multiple non-LWR areas, including:

• Heat transfer and fluid flow in molten salt and liquid metal coolants
• Molten-salt chemistry and tritium production
• Materials compatibility with salts
• Corrosion tolerance in harsh environments (salt, sodium, high-temperature gas)
• Graphite aging and degradation
• Modeling and simulation for microreactors under steady-state and transient conditions

16) Does the FOA include health physics and radiation protection modeling?

Yes. The FOA highlights health physics and radiation protection modeling tied to advanced reactor operations and siting, including regulatory questions related to dose, exposure pathways, and protective measures for new designs.

17) What does the FOA say about Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)?

PRA is called out as a prominent focus area. The FOA description includes interest in human reliability analysis, organizational and performance factors, natural hazards risk, common-cause failures, and methods supporting risk-informed decision-making.

18) Are there specific PRA method topics mentioned?

Yes. The provided text mentions interest in methods and approaches such as crediting recovery of failed equipment, alternative strategies to restore safety functions, and methods that justify the use of success paths in regulatory decisions.

19) Is fire risk analysis included?

Yes. Fire Risk Analysis is identified as a separate challenge area in the FOA, reflecting its importance for plant safety and risk modeling.

20) Does the FOA encourage data-driven or technology-enabled regulatory tools?

Yes. The FOA signals interest in newer, data-driven and technology-enabled tools. Examples mentioned include innovative radiation detection technologies aimed at minimizing groundwater contamination, as well as nuclear-safety-related text mining analytics and blockchain technologies.

21) What nuclear engineering core domains are emphasized?

The FOA description indicates that core nuclear engineering domains remain central, particularly fuels and neutronics.

22) What neutronics and nuclear data topics are mentioned?

The provided text lists interests including nuclear data, lattice and core physics, radiation transport, shielding, criticality safety, and sensitivity/uncertainty methods.

23) What fuel-related priorities are described?

Fuel-related priorities mentioned include:

• Modeling and performance of accident-tolerant fuels
• High-burnup and high-enrichment fuels
• Accelerated fuel qualification
• Modeling and simulation of metallic fuels
• Modeling and simulation of TRISO (tristructural isotropic) fuel

24) Is thermal-hydraulics a major pillar of the FOA?

Yes. Thermal-hydraulics is described as another major focus area, including two-phase flow and heat transfer, post-critical heat flux phenomena, experimental programs, multi-physics methods, and advanced computation.

25) Are CFD and benchmarking topics included?

Yes. A detailed subtopic described is the development and benchmarking of multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in reactor fuel bundle geometries to improve modeling of accident scenarios using 3D CFD methods.

26) Does the FOA emphasize uncertainty and validation for analysis codes?

Yes. The FOA description references sub-channel thermal-hydraulics and quantification of code uncertainty, indicating interest in validated, uncertainty-aware tools suitable for safety evaluations.

27) What emergency preparedness and consequence analysis topics are included?

The FOA highlights consequence analysis and emergency preparedness topics, including radionuclide dispersion and migration and long-term health and economic impacts of severe accidents.

28) Are atmospheric dispersion modeling topics mentioned?

Yes. The FOA description includes benchmarking simplified near-field atmospheric dispersion methods affected by building wakes against state-of-the-art dispersion models.

29) Does the FOA mention post-accident cleanup and recovery planning?

Yes. It includes developing methods to estimate the costs and durations of post-accident cleanup and recovery.

30) What materials and inspection-related areas are included?

Materials engineering is described as a broad cross-cutting area, including metallurgy, corrosion science, fracture mechanics, advanced manufacturing, modeling, and non-destructive examination.

31) Does the FOA mention AI or advanced sensors for inspection?

Yes. The FOA encourages applications of artificial intelligence and advanced sensors for in-service inspection of reactor components, pointing toward modern condition monitoring and improved inspection effectiveness.

32) Are natural hazards included in the technical priorities?

Yes. Natural hazards assessment is identified as a priority area, including seismic, flooding, and high-wind hazards, with a specific mention of probabilistic flood hazard assessment.

33) Does the FOA address digital instrumentation and controls?

Yes. Digital instrumentation and controls is included, covering systems design, software engineering, and hazards analysis, reflecting the importance of regulating increasingly digital plant systems.

34) Is cybersecurity included?

Yes. Cybersecurity is listed as its own focus area, recognizing safety and security implications of digital modernization.

35) Does the FOA include nuclear waste topics?

Yes. The FOA includes characterization, handling, storage, and disposal of nuclear waste streams, including used fuel and waste from various advanced reactor designs.

36) How does the FOA connect education to NRC regulatory needs?

The FOA is positioned to fund academic and training initiatives that produce qualified graduates, support faculty and curriculum capabilities, and advance targeted research and learning in technical areas that matter to near-term and future nuclear regulation.