NNSA awards $50 million in cooperative agreements to two university consortia to support nuclear security and nonproliferation

The two consortia, led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the Georgia Institute of Technology will each receive up to $5 million per year for five years. These consortia link basic university research with applied laboratory research to advance technical capabilities in support of nuclear security and nonproliferation missions of NNSA, enabling an effective pipeline of talented next-generation experts to establish careers at DOE national laboratories

"These consortia are critical to the of future of NNSA's nuclear security and nonproliferation research and development work," said Jeff Chamberlin, head of NNSA's nonproliferation efforts. "Once they develop a concept, the national laboratories can iterate and test its capabilities until it's ready for the private sector to adopt. I am confident these teams led by the University of Tennessee and Georgia Tech are up to the challenge and will make outstanding contributions to our field."

• The Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation is led by Georgia Tech and includes Abilene Christian University; Colorado School of Mines; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the Ohio State University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Stony Brook University; Texas A&M University; University of Alaska Fairbanks; the University of Texas at Austin; University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Virginia Commonwealth University. These 12 universities will partner with 12 national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Idaho National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Nevada National Security Site; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; and Savannah River National Laboratory.
• The Enabling Capabilities in Technology Consortium is led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and includes the Colorado School of Mines; Air Force Institute of Technology; Clemson University; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Hawaiʻi; Louisiana State University; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; North Carolina State University; the University of Oklahoma; Oregon State University; Texas A&M University; the University of Texas at San Antonio; University of Utah, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. These 15 universities will partner with eight national laboratories: Idaho National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; and Savannah River National Laboratory.

"These two consortia will develop a diverse and talented cadre of professionals with skill sets grounded in foundational disciplines including nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, materials science, data science, quantum science, and analytical chemistry," said Col. Jon Baker, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D's University Program Manager. "As they become tomorrow's scientists, engineers, technicians, operational personnel, and intelligence professionals, they could very well change the future of nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear arms control, nuclear incident response, nuclear intelligence activities, nuclear energy, and other related fields."

The consortia agreements follow a November 2023 funding opportunity announcement.