Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization

Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome » Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization November 20, 2012 - 2:48pm Addthis News Media Contact(202) 586-4940

WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above strategy to deploy every available source of American energy, the Energy Department today announced an award to support a new project to design, license and help commercialize small modular reactors (SMR) in the United States.  This award follows a funding opportunity announcement in March 2012.  The project supported by the award will be led by Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Bechtel.  In addition, the Department announced plans to issue a follow-on solicitation open to other companies and manufacturers, focused on furthering small modular reactor efficiency, operations and design.  

“The Obama Administration continues to believe that low-carbon nuclear energy has an important role to play in America’s energy future,” said Secretary Chu.  “Restarting the nation’s nuclear industry and advancing small modular reactor technologies will help create new jobs and export opportunities for American workers and businesses, and ensure we continue to take an all-of-the-above approach to American energy production.”

This project represents a significant investment in first-of-a-kind engineering, design certification and licensing for small modular reactors in the United States. Through a five-year cost-share agreement, the Energy Department will invest up to half of the total project cost, with the project’s industry partners matching this investment by at least one-to-one.  The specific total will be negotiated between the Energy Department and Babcock & Wilcox (B&W). 

The Energy Department investment will help B&W obtain Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing and achieve commercial operations by 2022 – helping to provide U.S. utilities with low carbon energy options as well as create important export opportunities for the United States and advance our nation’s competitive edge in this emerging global industry. The project will be based in Tennessee and will support additional suppliers and operations in Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Small modular reactors - which are approximately one-third the size of current nuclear power plants - have compact, scalable designs that are expected to offer a host of safety, construction and economic benefits. Small modular reactors can also be made in factories and transported to sites where they would be ready to “plug and play” upon arrival, reducing both capital costs and construction times. The smaller size also makes these reactors ideal for small electric grids and for locations that cannot support large reactors, offering utilities the flexibility to scale production as demand changes.

As this nascent industry continues to grow, the Energy Department is committed to supporting research and development that will advance efficient, safe and cost-effective small modular reactor technologies. The Department plans to issue a new funding opportunity announcement to address this goal and support continued design development and certification of innovative SMR technologies.

Find more information on the important steps the Department is taking to jumpstart America’s nuclear industry at www.energy.gov/nuclear.

 

 

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Many Socialists Believe Since Most Small Businesses Stay Small They Don't Help the Economy

Over the years, I've discussed with many left-leaning political thinking folks about how unfair our rules and regulations are upon our small business community. I am often completely and utterly dismayed by some of the dialogue they use to refute my comments, although in hindsight I am beginning to understand why they think the way they do. Many of these socialist thinking folks believe that since most small businesses and remain small they don't help the economy much. Further, they contend that the small businesses don't provide "good jobs" or well-paying jobs, and therefore it isn't really that critical. Well, I disagree so let's talk about this for second shall we?

You see, before I retired I was in the franchising business. Every single franchisee we got started was a small business. Over that period of time we established small franchised outlets in 23 states serving 450 cities. Would the socialists have preferred that I had never founded a franchising company and done that? It seems to me that their answer is yes. They would like everyone to work for the government, or for a large corporation, preferably union, and one that pays big benefits, Cadillac healthcare, and guaranteed pensions.

Sounds great right? Only from their point-of-view and perspective, let look in hindsight what has actually happened? Many of those Cadillac healthcare benefits have been cut, and are hardly what they used to be, further it has driven up healthcare costs for everyone, well that plus the massive government flows into the sector. Many of those guaranteed pensions are completely underfunded, and all those promises that were made by all those corporations and even government agencies may never come to fruition. As

While I was growing my business it was hard for me to attract the top talent because the larger corporations kept promising better benefits and pensions. In the end, all those promises they made were BS, but they got the talent promising what was supposed to be a good job, but they reneged.

Further, not everyone can work for a large corporation, and I would submit to you that I don't want to live in a society and civilization where every what works for the government. Did you know that government plus large corporations employ less than 25% of working Americans? 75% are employed by small businesses, or they are their own small business.

Do these socialist and left-leaning thinking individuals really believe that we don't want that 75% of the people employed? Because if they do, there is no way that their little benefit packages, and gifts from the government can continue.

Sometimes I wish that socialists were smarter so they could understand basic economics. But that is one wish I doubt will ever be fulfilled, because trust me when I tell you; the Obama Administration is no genie out of the bottle, and whatever three wishes they promised you, it'll be a cold day in hell before you get your personal million dollar stimulus check in the mail. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Economic Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

Own Your Magnificence and Stop Playing Small

Greatness, magnificence, and brilliance - do you realize that these are words that really refer to your unique "Self"? Then why do we tend to feel so uncomfortable applying these words to our self? For that matter, we tend to only apply them to other people, after they have died.

Van Gogh, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Joan of Arc - these people were geniuses in their specific ways of contribution, yet while they were alive they were generally considered a bit nutty or a nuisance to the social order. Now dead, they are our heroes. If you stop and think about it, from the time we hit first grade, the social conditioning begins to dumb down our greatness and begins the nightmare into conformity.

As long as we have an outline for social law and order, what is so awful about being "different" from the next person? After all, it's not rocket science - you are different. You don't have to be an artistic genius or change the societal paradigm of the day to display your greatness. Everyone does not have a mission of this magnitude. What I am most interested in is that we as humanity begin to wake up to how self-destructive it is-spiritually, mentally, emotionally and mentally-to reject our self.

Self-rejection is at the root of stress, overwhelm, addictions, money trouble-both poverty and greed-poor relationships, and it can even create disease in your body. Are children born rejecting themselves? Of course not! It is a learned way of perceiving ourselves. Our brilliant brain will record whatever you focus on with feeling long enough, or if you feel strongly about it enough it happens rapidly. It will not judge.

What we truly belief about our self, life will reflect back to us in the Mirror of Life.

Another way to say this is "Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself." ~James Allen

Your brain forms "autobiographical memory," the story of who you "think" you are. There are many reasons that contribute to our existing way of thinking of our self. What really matters, though, is that you realize that you can take responsibility-"response-ability"-for your life now right now. You can begin to learn how to retrain your brain and release the cellular memory of who you "think you are."

Actually, YOU are not your thoughts. The real YOU is way greater than a bunch of limiting thoughts. Yet, what you think about your self will co-create your life experience. Own your own magnificence - there is not another exactly like you. It does not only powerfully improve the quality of your own life; it can contribute to improving the quality of the life of those around you and create a society that is more functional and healthier for us all, as well. Remember, society is created by and is dependent on the individuals that compose it.

"No man (woman) is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." ~John Donne

Just be YOU, magnificently. This is more than enough. There is no need to dumb down and cover your light to fit in the box.

Visit http://www.valenciaray.com/ for your complimentary special report, "7 Common Beliefs that Block Your Vision for Your Life - and What to Do About it!"

Valencia Ray, M.D. teaches progressive business owners & professionals how their amazing brain hijacks personal power to improve their relationship, entrepreneurial and work/life balance skills. You can visit her website at http://www.valenciaray.com/

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Utilizing Apps for Mobile Devices to Expand Local Small Business Potential

In the business environment, the resources related to communication are vital, in order to expand business potential and make sales. When your company is looking to achieve success in their local environment, there are many resources available to you that can aid in accomplishing these improvements in communications. Making sure your business stays ahead of competitors is essential when looking at the next significant opportunity to advancing business communications. One prime example of the advancements that a company should take advantage of can be found with the utilization of apps for mobile devices.

Any individual who has any version of a smartphone is well aware of the apps that they can utilize when using these devices. Individuals take advantage of small icons to instantly connect with different businesses, as well as discover resources of information that can aid them in their daily lives. The utilization of apps for mobile phones serve to be an incredible source of communication, when a business is looking to instantly connect with its specific consumers and provide the most simple solutions to reaching their business. For a company working within a local environment, the utilization of these applications can be incredibly beneficial towards their overall business objectives.

For a small business, one of the most difficult tasks discovered is found with utilizing reliable marketing resources that will save the company money and maximize their exposure. Conventional marketing resources offer very few advantages to individuals anymore, as a result of the incredible advancements that have been made through the online environment and through mobile technology. Even the Internet is beginning to suffer, as over-saturation of this marketing environment becomes mundane and ineffective. Taking the first steps into utilizing your own apps for mobile devices will allow a company to lay the foundation of use, in the next significant marketing resource.

Best of all, through the utilization of these applications, a company can easily maximize their local resources. Businesses that rely on the opportunities that exist with mobile technology will be able to utilize mobile resources, in order to improve business exposure. In addition to apps for mobile phones, a person can utilize mobile search engines that will provide consumers information on their company, when specific searches are conducted. This can greatly improve your communication efforts with consumers as they easily find your business from the convenience of their own mobile device.

In the business environment, one of the most crucial elements that every business must account for is found with communication. When seeking to improve your local business opportunities, the communication advancements that can be found with apps for mobile devices, will greatly aid your efforts in achieving this communication advancement.

If you willing to take your business to the next level of mobile generation, then log on to http://www.mobile-local-ads.com/ and get to know more about how to make use of apps for Android market where people are using their smart phones to locate and search businesses. Dominate your market by becoming mobile-ready and optimize your business for local searches.

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If We Want Jobs We Need to Stop Making It So Hard on Small Businesses

Back in the early 90s I got so fed up with the municipality where I did most of my business, that I decided it was time for a change. Indeed, I filled out the paperwork and I ran for City Council. It wasn't so important for me to get elected, rather than to make sure that small businesses in the community got a fair shake. While running for city Council I got my share of publicity, newspaper articles, radio interviews, and participated in the local debates which were televised.

Indeed, it wasn't much different than what we are currently watching as the GOP candidates vie for the primary ticket of the Republican Party. The only difference perhaps is that the folks are dressed a lot nicer, and everyone is wearing makeup. The questions asked from the audience, and various political players throughout the community wasn't much different, in fact, I'd say many of the challenges in the municipality were quite controversy let the time, and there was mud-slinging of course - that's politics.

Now then, I am completely bothered by the fact that we have the same problems we did back in the early 90s in that small city, as we do throughout our nation today. It is as if Washington DC doesn't care, it's not as if they don't know of the problems. Surely, they have to know, as there are a number of members of Congress who started out as small businesspeople. The challenges of our small businesses in the United States are nothing new, but it's time that we made a paradigm shift. If our current administration can't do it, we need to remove and replace them in the 2012 election.

If our leadership in Washington DC, and at the state level will not listen to the plight of the small business person, and fix some of these onerous regulations and rules which are duplicated through the various levels of government, then we cannot have full employment in our economy. Ten percent of the American population owns their own business - they are self-employed - that 10% employees 60 to 70% of Americans.

Yes, we need to make things easier on our large corporations as well, but we shouldn't bend over backwards for them without also doing the same for our small business community. The corporations have been making money hand over fist, and through crony capitalism we have engaged in corporate welfare and we've spent our treasury into oblivion. No, it's not all the lobbyists' fault or the corporations' fault, we also have outrageous expenses and social programs too of course. Nevertheless, the small business person is competing in unfair playing field and at a disadvantage.

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal about all this titled; "Want Jobs? Cut Local Regulations," by Chip Mellor and Dick Carpenter (published on July 28, 2011). It was an interesting article to read, but it is nothing different than what I had through back in the early 90s, nothing has changed, and we've been promised as a small business community that things would change, but these politicians we sent to Washington DC - are no doing what must be done to get this country back to full-steam.

Well, this is where the rubber hits the road, the Obama Administration must lead by example, and host a "red magic marker committee" filled with small business people to go through all these rules and help reduce regulations at the federal level, thus setting an example for state, county, and local governments to do the same, or we just will not have our employment numbers return. Our economy cannot fire on all cylinders, until we stop harassing and over regulating our small business community. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,500 articles by August 24th or 25th will be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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Which Is Best for Success - Big or Small Goals?

Recently, I read Napoleon Hill's The Law of Success. In his section on creating a definite chief aim, he asserts that it is best for your chief aim, or goal, to be as big and grand as possible. Since this assertion, more than half a century of study, learning, and conclusion have revealed much more about human psychology than anyone in Hill's day could even fathom. The ancient Chinese also had a saying alluding to goals, "It is better to aim for the stars and hit a bird than it is to aim for bird and hit a rock."

So, it seems throughout time, men who have achieved big have dreamed big all along. But again, we are in an age of access to an overwhelming amount of technology and information. While 100 years ago people commonly dealt with thousands of dollars and dreamed of millions, talk of trillions and beyond are now common numbers in our society. All of this begs this question stated in the title. Which is truly better for you to achieve success? A common saying of our time is, "Go big, or go home." So really, do people benefit from desiring things far beyond their comprehension, or is it better to progress through a series of small goals?

1. Your Dreams Must Be Big and Believable
From all of my observation of success (and I have observed a lot), it is best to make as big of goals as you can comprehend. This is very important. All humans have wild imaginations, some more so than others, but you must make goals that are accessible to you. For example, as of writing this, I have a goal to make a take home, monthly income of $40,000.00. Now, this does me far more good as a goal because I have known people and the kind of lifestyle associated with that amount of money. Furthermore, because it is a big goal, but conceivable, my brain immediately creates smaller sub-goals to reach the final destination.

2. Your Dreams Should Not Make You Feel Overwhelmed
If I create a goal of making $35 million a year, I have no idea where to begin. Logically it would seem that I should just repeat the same steps at an exponential rate to my original goal, but this number is beyond my comprehension. Unfortunately, when it comes to big goals, they must be felt to be achieved. I can't produce any feelings associated with making that much money in my current state of life, so that goal would be pointless. Instead of creating sub-goals, my brain becomes overwhelmed quickly to the point of inactivity. We have all had some goal or dream that seems so big we hesitate to even start it, and often times, do not.

In conclusion, what is the answer to the question in the title? The answer is both. Find goals that do not overwhelm you to the point of inactivity, but rather inspire you while providing progressive steps of attainment. If you follow this principle, you can accomplish virtually anything. Remember the words of success guru Bob Proctor, "Your dreams should be just big enough that they scare you a little bit."

Success, in ANY area of life, can be yours if you answer a very simple question. Do you want more out of this life than you have right now? Click here to sign up for our Excellent Self Newsletter. In addition to receiving our personal development newsletter, you will receive access to over 50 minutes of audio content by success guru Bob Proctor. Success in any area of life is built on action, so start today by visiting http://www.excellentself.com/success.

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