US: Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible use of Small Modular Reactor Technology Program (FIRST)

Deadline: 30-Jul-25

ISN/CTR administers the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Technology Program (FIRST) to enable partner countries’ responsible nuclear energy deployment under the highest nuclear security, safety, and nonproliferation standards.

FIRST is ISN’s flagship programmatic tool to advance President Trump’s Executive Order on Unleashing American Energy in global nuclear energy markets.

Goals and Objectives

• While global in scope, FIRST directs its efforts towards individual priority countries on both a bilateral and regional basis to maximize its programmatic impact. FIRST is primarily interested in engaging partner countries’ nuclear energy agencies, regulatory authorities, reactor operators, utilities, nuclear research institutes, technical and non-technical organization decision makers, energy and foreign ministries. Audiences for these activities may include, but are not limited to:
  • Nuclear Energy, Security, and Nonproliferation Decision Makers: FIRST engages various policy makers in partner countries, including at senior levels, on paths forward for secure, sustainable, proliferation-resistant approaches to civil nuclear energy in their respective countries. This community may include officials from energy ministries, finance ministries, foreign diplomats, university partners responsible for training the nuclear workforce, and local officials in the context of FIRST.
  • Government Operators, Regulators, Utilities, Technical Experts, and Security Personnel: FIRST engages operators, regulators, and security personnel to implement programs that ensure the highest, U.S.-aligned standards for nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation as key decisional criteria for SMR deployment.
  • Technical Organization and Nuclear Industry Decision Makers: To ensure the sustainability and success of FIRST engagement with operators, regulators, and security personnel, FIRST engages relevant decision makers and local nuclear industry officials.
• Goals
  • FIRST is a force multiplier for secure and safe U.S. SMR deployment from responsible nuclear vendors to promote energy and economic security, enhance civil nuclear energy partnerships, and champion the highest nuclear security, safety, and nonproliferation standards that the United States and our partners have long upheld.
  • FIRST helps partner countries to:
    • establish a nuclear power program under the highest international standards for nuclear security, safety, and nonproliferation,
    • take advantage of next generation nuclear innovations and technologies in their sustainable energy plans and meet their energy needs, and
    • deepen civil nuclear energy partnerships through government, U.S. industry, national laboratory, and university engagements with an SMR focus.
• Objectives
  • In Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25), as the primary focus, FIRST will fund activities that align with U.S. priorities for countries participating in FIRST, including both potential new FIRST partners and countries already engaged. Proposals should clearly indicate how the work is intended to support the following objective.
    • Empower potential nuclear energy newcomer countries (and current nuclear energy states with SMR deployment interests) to prioritize responsible, U.S.-aligned nuclear security, nonproliferation, and safety standards from the outset as key decisional criteria when evaluating civil nuclear reactor technologies, to include SMRs and other advanced reactor designs.

Funding Information

• Total available funding: $19,500,000 Funds are pending notification
• Award amounts: Awards may range from a minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $4,000,000 (approximately)

Duration

• Length of performance period: 12-24 months

Expected Outcomes

• The FIRST program engages with foreign partners on nuclear security, energy, and sovereignty in an ongoing endeavor. To this end, ISN/CTR will evaluate each proposal, and each project during implementation, based on the strength of its proposed structure of engagement activities and established milestones, seeking work that will continue throughout the period of the project, build upon FIRST and related projects previously conducted, leverage existing public-private partnerships and create new ones, and utilize in-country activities where necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the ongoing effort.
• All proposals will measure partner capacity before and after engagement, with the expectation that skills, procedures, technical understanding, and abilities have increased due to ISN/CTR support

Eligibility Criteria

• The following organizations are eligible to apply:
  • U.S. for-profit organizations or businesses;
  • U.S.-based non-profit/non-governmental organizations with or without 501(c) (3) status of the U.S. tax code;
  • U.S.-based private, public, or state institutions of higher education;
  • foreign-based non-profit organizations/non-government organizations (NGO);
  • Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs);
  • Public International Organizations (PIO);
  • Foreign Public Entities (FPE); and foreign-based institutions of higher education.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.