Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Licensing Technical Support (LTS) Program | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Licensing Technical Support (LTS) Program is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy funding opportunity aimed at accelerating the development and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing progress of next-generation small modular reactor designs. Through Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0000800, DOE is looking for SMR concepts that go beyond existing operating plants and previously certified designs by offering clearly innovative features that strengthen nuclear safety and security while also improving operability, efficiency, overall performance, and project economics. A central program goal is to support designs that can realistically reach NRC design certification on a schedule aligned with potential deployment around the 2025 timeframe, which effectively means the work under this award is intended to push a design toward licensing maturity rather than early-stage basic research.

The financial structure is built around a cost-shared cooperative agreement, reflecting DOE's intent to partner closely with industry as the design and licensing work progresses. Awards require at least 50 percent industry cost share, with federal support capped at 50 percent, meaning the awardee must match federal dollars at a one-to-one level at minimum. For any single award, total federal funding is limited to $226 million over five years, subject to appropriations and the governments availability of funds. The FOA also makes clear that DOE has no legal obligation to pay until funds are appropriated and formally obligated by the contracting officer and the recipient receives official notice. While the source data lists an award ceiling of $452 million, the narrative description emphasizes the federal share limit of $226 million per award across the five-year period, consistent with a 50/50 cost-share framework that could imply a larger total project value when non-federal cost share is included.

From a program intent standpoint, the opportunity is designed to reduce licensing and design-certification risk for an innovative SMR by helping fund the work needed to complete design development and pursue NRC certification activities. The emphasis on "licensing technical support" and "design certification" signals that proposed projects are expected to be structured around deliverables and milestones that matter to NRC review readiness, such as maturing the design to a certifiable configuration, completing key analyses, and supporting interactions that lead toward certification. Because the instrument type is a cooperative agreement, DOE typically anticipates substantial involvement during performance, which often includes federal technical engagement, review of major milestones, and coordinated planning around project execution and risk management.

The FOA was posted March 11, 2013, with an application due date of July 1, 2013, and DOE planned to provide roughly 120 days for applicants to respond. Applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov, while the FOA itself was accessible through FedConnect under the same reference number. DOE also scheduled an Industry Day on May 15, 2013, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland, specifically to answer questions and clarify FOA content for prospective applicants. Interested parties were encouraged to submit questions by April 30, 2013 (via FedConnect or by email to SMRFOA800@id.doe.gov), though the FOA allowed additional questions up to 10 calendar days before the application deadline. DOE indicated it would post an Industry Day briefing within 10 days after the meeting to FedConnect.

Eligibility is broad on paper and includes for-profit entities (including large businesses), small businesses, various nonprofit types, institutions of higher education (public and private), and multiple levels of government, including state, county, and city/township governments, as well as Native American tribal governments and organizations. However, there is an important restriction for prime or lead applicants: organizations that were already in negotiations for, or already receiving, government financial assistance for similar SMR design/licensing FOAs were not eligible to apply as the prime/lead under this solicitation. That restriction did not apply to subrecipients, subawardees, vendors, or other team members, which effectively encouraged teaming while preventing duplication of federal support at the lead-award level.

Administratively, the opportunity is classified as discretionary funding, with the funding activity category listed as science and technology and other research and development, and the CFDA number cited as 81.121 (Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration). DOE anticipated making one award. The issuing agency is listed as the DOE Idaho Field Office, which provided the primary contact channel (Heather J. Merrill via SMRFOA800@id.doe.gov) for access issues and general support. Overall, the program is best understood as a large, cost-shared federal partnership intended to move a single innovative SMR design substantially closer to NRC design certification and commercial deployment readiness within the mid-2020s planning horizon.

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