Next Generation Nuclear Plant

[3] The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) engaged in pre-licensing interactions with DOE and INL on technical and policy issues that could affect the design and licensing of the NGNP prototype from 2006 until suspension of the effort in 2013.

[4] DOE and INL established the NGNP Project as required by Congress in Subtitle C of Title VI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Subsequent NRC interactions with DOE and INL centered primarily on the NRC's review and assessment of a series of NGNP white paper submittals that describe the approaches that DOE and INL propose to pursue in establishing the technical safety bases and criteria for licensing the NGNP prototype.

[4] [7][8] The DOE issued in 2007 a "request for expressions of interest from prospective industry teams"[9] that want to provide design services for developing the NGNP.

[10] The NGNP Industry Alliance agreed with this technology vendor decision of the AREVA prismatic core modular HTGR in a steam supply configuration for initial applications for co-generation of process heat and electricity.

While the overall program made notable achievements in materials science and regulatory matters which saw further application, by 2015 the overall project was terminated without any fabrication or construction of a NGNP plant performed or planned.