Questions and Answers for FOA # DE-NE0002967 (11 December 2024).pdf

Questions and Answers for DE-FOA 0002575 Date

Question received

Date Answer Posted

Question Answer

11/25/2024 12/02/2024

Question #1

Are proposals limited to four under Topic 1 (up to one each for oxide, metal, UF6, and combination) and four under Topic 2 (up to one each for oxide, metal, UF6, and combination), for a total of up to eight proposals per organization

Applicants may submit up to one application for each topic area.

Applicants may submit one application for Topic Area 1 and one application in Topic Area 2 for a combined maximum of two applications. See NOFO Part 1 Section II.B. (Pages 10-11) for more information.

12/02/2024 12/11/2024 (Anserwer Revised)

Question #2

Are foreign companies eligible to apply as either prime applicants or sub-recipients?

With regards to foreign companies applying, Prime and Sub-Recipients refer to NOFO part 1 pages 9-10, and NOFO part 2 page 18 for instructions regarding foreign companies applying and how to request a waiver for a foreign company’s participation, if needed.

Applicants can submit to DOE waivers for foreign entity participation at any time before the application due date, or wait and submit the waiver with the application.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 3

Under the special statutory authority can the “Protected Data” generated under this NOFO be protected for longer than five years, i.e. 50 years?

Under Topic Area 2, the Offeror is extending previously owned and licensed technical information for modification to meet the DOE requirements for HALEU transportation packages. However, the market for the final product is not expected to be realized for 10-15 years making the 5-year protection moot. Publication of the modifications to existing package technical data will provide access to protected data and

Selectees and recipients may request an extended period of protection (more than 5 years and not to exceed 30 years) if reasonably required for commercialization for specific categories of data first produced under the resulting awards. DOE does not have unlimited rights in data that is not generated under the award, such as data owned by the applicant or produced outside of the award.

The period of protection can be addressed during the negotiation process after award selections are made.

Intellectual Property while eliminating protections for years prior to market need for the product. This will violate IP protections inherent in privately funding research and development and for-profit investment.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 4

Will the awardee retain all licenses and NRC certifications in perpetuity for all products resulting from the NOFO award or is the intent for DOE to be the NRC certificate license holder of the newly developed or modified packages?

Awardee will retain all NRC certifications and/or licenses as a result of this NOFO.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 5

Many commercial organizations focused on serving the nuclear material transport market have invested time and funding to create special purpose packages that can be licensed to transport HALEU and other sensitive materials to meet the emerging market demand. Is the intent of the DOE NOFO to supersede those efforts through the development of competing technologies and compete with private industry?

No. DOE is working to support industry efforts to develop additional new or updated transportation packages to support the transportation of large quantities of HALEU. DOE seeks more efficient and cost-effective transportation packages for shipping large quantities of HALEU, while maintaining high safety standards.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 6

Many Uranium forms and finished materials including uranium salts, TRISO fuels, U-AL, U-Si, U-Mo, are omitted from the NOFO. Are these forms to be included in the development of a new package for this grant opportunity or will this be a focus of a future funding opportunity?

Is there an isotopic characterization range that should be the basis for the design of new or modified packages?

Yes, the listed Uranium forms can be included as a new package for this NOFO as long the proposals meet the objectives and requirements set forth in the NOFO. Any isotope characterization range that can meet the objectives/requirements of the NOFO and pass the NRC criticality criteria will be considered.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 7

For the oxide and metal packages, can additional information on material forms the transport package must support be provided, (i.e. powder, metal ingots, spherical TRISO pebbles, etc.) with dimensional data and how much in terms of overall uranium weight is needed to be shipped (either on a per transport or per campaign basis)? Should the design include accommodation of multiple configurations at fuel fabrication facilities?

DOE aims to provide flexibility rather than limitations. The proposal, depending on the type of fuel or combination being pursued, can support multiple configuration or size. The ultimate goal is to maximize large HALEU shipping quantities while maintaining high safety standards.

12/06/2024 12/11/2024

Question # 8

What operational criteria will be considered in the evaluation criteria?

Are transport viability and cost included in the evaluation criteria?

Applications will be evaluated against the technical review criteria included in the NOFO.

12/06/2024

12/11/2024

Question # 9

Can the NOFO application due date be extended to 31 January 2025

Yes, the NOFO application due date has been extended to 31 January 2025. The revised NOFO document reflects this new date.