Alert
Alert
02.06.20
DOE Request for Information and Notice of Intent for Awards for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program
On February 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a Request for Information/Notice of Intent (RFI/NOI), for its new Advanced Reactor Demonstration (ARD) Program, informing parties of DOE’s intent to issue a number of awards related to the ARD Program, and to solicit the required information for DOE to develop the solicitation.
The intent of DOE’s ARD Program is to focus DOE and non-federal resources on achieving the actual construction and real demonstration of multiple advanced reactor designs within the next five to seven years.
DOE explained the RFI/NOI was issued for the following two primary purposes:
Pursuant to the first purpose, the RFI/NOI stated that DOE intends to issue a financial assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the following two types of awards:
The RFI/NOI also advised applicant teams to immediately begin steps to get federally approved rate agreements in place for this FOA so as not to delay award negotiations.
Pursuant to the second purpose of soliciting information, the RFI/NOI contains a Questionnaire with twenty-two questions, focused on the solicitation for and execution of the Demonstration and Risk Reduction projects. DOE stated it was seeking input on how advanced reactor demonstrations executed within a cost-shared partnership with DOE and licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) can be structured to ensure the greatest chance of success. The RFI/NOI encouraged all of the following nuclear industry stakeholders to reply with feedback on potential project activities: nuclear industry entities (reactor vendors, fuel manufacturers, utilities and power producers, supply chain vendors, engineering, procurement, construction contractors, etc.) as well as from government organizations, federal contractors, universities, manufacturers, or consortia capable of designing, building, and operating advanced nuclear reactors.
The RFI/NOI stated that replies should provide the information requested in the Questionnaire to help DOE gain a better understanding of industry perspectives on potential industry partnership opportunities, integration strategies, cost or time saving measures, and technology development risks. Finally, the RFI/NOI contains directions for responding to the RFI/NOI, a series of disclaimers, and the twenty-two question Questionnaire.
Pillsbury has one of the legal industry’s largest and most storied Nuclear Energy practices. Our nuclear team is actively following and engaged in a variety of U.S. DOE contracting and reactor development and commercialization issues, and has deep regulatory experience in advanced reactor matters before the U.S. NRC, U.S. DOE, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and various international regulators. Pillsbury also has deep experience in all aspects of government contract formation and performance and has advised clients at every stage of the government contracting process, from solicitation through final audit. To learn more about our Nuclear Energy team, please click here.