NNSA awards $25 million nonproliferation grant to group that includes ORNL

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday announced a $25 million nuclear nonproliferation grant to a consortium that is led by North Carolina State University and includes Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The grant from the NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development is for research and development that will enable nonproliferation capabilities, a press release said. The consortium will receive $5 million per year for five years. The grant is in response to a funding opportunity announcement issued in May 2013.

“This grant will provide the U.S. government with cutting-edge research and development to identify and address multi-disciplinary and cross-functional technology and research needs that are critical to detecting foreign nuclear weapon proliferation activities,” the press release said. “Specifically, the research projects pursued by the consortium will include technologies to enhance simulation capabilities, algorithms, and modeling; new test and evaluation models for detection sensors; new remote sensing capabilities; and applications of data analytics and data fusion to better characterize and detect special nuclear materials.”

“This grant will link students with world-class researchers and introduce them to career possibilities at the national labs while providing education in areas of great importance for the nonproliferation mission,” said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington.

In addition to North Carolina State, the consortium includes the University of Michigan, Purdue, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Kansas State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, as well as several national laboratories, including Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest.

NNSA also recently announced a $25 million grant to a University of Michigan-led consortium for R&D in nuclear arms control verification technologies. That consortium also includes ORNL.