R--EOI - GNEP Technology Demonstration Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy is providing additional information relating to its March 17, 2006, Request for Expressions of Interest to perform Site Evaluation Studies in support of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Technology Demonstration Program. DOE is providing clarifying information regarding the scope of the GNEP Technology Demonstration Program and notification of the revised approach for awarding funding necessary to complete the site studies. DOE will make final decisions on the siting of GNEP Technology Demonstration Program projects after completion of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the GNEP Technology Demonstration Program. (Advance Notice of Intent, 71 FR 14505, March 22, 2006). The EIS will evaluate the reasonable siting alternatives, including the location(s) of technology demonstration projects at DOE and potentially non-DOE sites. DOE desires to have a broad range of sites be considered for the technology demonstration projects, including non-DOE sites. The eligibility for award to conduct Site Evaluation Studies will be limited to domestic non-DOE sites. The restriction to non-DOE sites applies regardless of the entity that would intend to propose to conduct a project on a DOE site. The decision to limit awards to non-DOE sites does not affect the ultimate eligibility of DOE sites for the siting of projects under GNEP Technology Demonstration Program. DOE decided to restrict eligibility to non-DOE sites because DOE sites are generally well-characterized, and additional information required to support the development of the EIS can be obtained by tasking DOE contractors directly through their existing contracts. The anticipated requirements and deliverables for the site evaluation studies remain unchanged from the Request for Expressions of Interest. It is important for entities who are interested in being considered for hosting a technology demonstration project to be aware that the technology demonstration project(s) will require the storage of nuclear materials to support the demonstration facility activities. In particular, the demonstration of a spent nuclear fuel recycling facility will require the hosting site to accept and store spent nuclear fuel as feed into the separations process.