NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CONSORTIUM FOR NONPROLIFERATION

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D) drives innovative research that develops technologies and expertise to detect foreign nuclear proliferation activities and produces technologies for integration into operational systems by leveraging capabilities at the DOE National Laboratories, Plants, and Other Field Sites, as well as at universities and within private industry. DNN R&D supports U.S. nuclear security objectives to reduce global nuclear security threats through the innovation of unilateral and multi-lateral technical capabilities to detect, identify, and characterize: 1) Foreign nuclear weapons development activities; 2) Illicit diversion of special nuclear materials; and 3) Nuclear explosions globally. Additionally, DNN R&D sustains and develops foundational nonproliferation technical capabilities by providing targeted, long-term support for enabling infrastructure, science and technology, and an expert workforce.

For DNN R&D, the role of Institutions of Higher Education (as defined in Section III) is to innovate, develop, and prove some of the most challenging basic aspects of new technology and methods in coordination with the DOE National Laboratories, which can in turn fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities until they are either adopted by operational enterprises or transitioned into private industry for commercialization. Transparency and effectively linking the roles of these Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and DOE National Laboratories represents the core of how DNN R&D proposes to meet its objectives.

The primary purpose of this opportunity is to direct-fund basic research at universities that complements applied research in nuclear nonproliferation at the DOE National Laboratories. This includes foundational disciplines of nuclear physics, science and engineering, radiation detection, nuclear material science, radiochemistry, and mass spectrometry. A secondary benefit to this research is the development of a diverse and highly talented cadre of technical professionals, including as scientists, engineers, technicians, and operational personnel, who become the next generation of technical leaders in nuclear missions, such as nonproliferation, arms control, incident response, intelligence, and energy. These professionals are expected to primarily benefit the DOE National Laboratories as future research staff but will also benefit academia, private industry, and U.S. government agencies, including Energy, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and the Intelligence Community.

The intent of this NOFO is to award one (1) five-year cooperative agreement to a consortium consisting of accredited IHEs to provide the opportunity to receive and administer Federal financial assistance funds for student and faculty research, fellowships, and scholarship funding awarded by DOE/NNSA, DNN R&D. The envisioned cooperative agreement will be awarded to a consortium of IHEs which will include the participation of DOE National Laboratories as consortium-member(s). Individual IHEs consortium-member shall make specific contributions and shall receive specified portions of the funding. The consortium may include student and research fellows and must have a long-term objective of building expertise in scientific disciplines directly relevant to nuclear nonproliferation.