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Awards/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT (B)

$65,338,120

Department of Energy·Department of Energy

to SOUTHERN COMPANY SERVICES, INC.

energyexpiring · 79d· period of performance ends in 79 daysONGOING · MOD OF 2021 CONTRACT
WORK BEGAN2021-10-01·LATEST ACTION2026-03-31·SOURCEUSASPENDING·SOURCE IDASST_NON_DENE0009045_089
Award description

MCRE – WORLD’S FIRST CRITICAL MCFR TO CONFIRM KEY PHYSICS PHENOMENA RELEVANT TO MCFR-D, MCRE SOW WILL INCLUDE THE DESIGN, DOE AUTHORIZATION, CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATION OF A LOW POWER, HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) CHLORIDE SALT- FUELED CRITICAL REACTOR EXPERIMENT HOSTED AT INL. MCRE WILL BE THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF A FAST SPECTRUM MOLTEN SALT FUEL FORM IN A CRITICAL LOW-POWER NUCLEAR REACTOR IN THE WORLD. KEY RESULTS - DESIGN AND DELIVER MODULES FOR INTEGRATION AT LOTUS, SUPPORT INL EFFORTS TO OBTAIN DOE AUTHORIZATION, SUPPORT MODULE INSTALLATION WITHIN LOTUS, AND SAFELY OPERATE THE CRITICAL MOLTEN CHLORIDE REACTOR EXPERIMENT TO CONFIRM KEY, LOW-KNOWLEDGE PHENOMENA. - SUPPORT INL EFFORTS TO SYNTHESIZE SALT FUEL, LOAD SALT FUEL INTO THE REACTOR, AND OPERATE THE LIQUID SALT FUELED REACTOR EXPERIMENT. - SUMMARIZE KEY DATA TO SUPPORT MCFR-D LICENSING STRATEGY.

Verbatim from USAspending.gov. Capitalization, abbreviations, and codes are unchanged.

The Buildout's read

What the model surfaced from this award

Confidence: high
In plain English

Latest obligation on the 2021 molten chloride reactor experiment at Idaho National Lab to design, construct, and operate the world's first critical fast-spectrum molten salt reactor.

Sub-sectors
nuclear-advanced-reactorsmolten-salt-reactordoe-national-labs
Why this matters

Demonstrates next-generation nuclear fuel form critical to DOE's advanced reactor licensing strategy and domestic molten salt reactor development pathway.

Supply-chain signal

Signals demand for specialized reactor components, enriched uranium fuel handling, and salt-fuel synthesis capabilities; supports domestic advanced reactor supply chain maturation.

U.S.–China competition angle

Molten salt reactors are a contested advanced-reactor technology; U.S. demonstration of critical physics validation strengthens domestic licensing position against international competitors pursuing similar designs.

Generated by award_classification v2.1.0 via claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on 2026-06-04. Cost: $0.003374.

Period of performance
Start
2021-10-01
End
2026-09-30
Status
expiring · 79din 79 days
Sources

The Buildout does not edit federal records. Any inaccuracy reflects the upstream source; it will update here when corrected there.

$65.3M Department of Energy — The Buildout — The Buildout