Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Corridor

Lead Agency: Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium

States Served: Idaho, Wyoming

Applicant-Defined Region: Idaho Falls and Pocatello MSAs, Blackfoot μSA, Fort Hall Indian Reservation (Idaho); Laramie and Rock Springs μSAs

Core Technology Area: Nuclear small modular reactors and microreactors

Contact: Christi Gilchrist

Media Contact: Susie Barna ([email protected]) and Jeremy Johnson ([email protected])

Organizational Link: https://idahoadvancedenergy.org/intermountain-west-nuclear-energy-corridor-inec/

The Intermountain-west Nuclear Energy Corridor (INEC) Tech Hub, led by the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium, aims to establish American energy dominance and strengthen domestic security by positioning Idaho and Wyoming as a global leader in small modular reactors (SMR). This Tech Hub will build on Idaho and Wyoming’s regional nuclear manufacturing and service sectors to capture an increasing share of the global SMR market. By developing co-location collaboration hubs, incubators and testbeds for nuclear start-ups, and nuclear industry workforce development programs, the INEC Tech Hub will leverage regional resources and talent to strengthen nuclear reactor development and production.

This Tech Hub seeks to enhance U.S. competitiveness and energy security by accelerating the reactor deployment timeline to enable the commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors within the next decade.

EDA intends to award this Tech Hub grant funding of approximately $31 million to:

• Fabricate, test, and qualify advanced nuclear fuels;
• Scale applied workforce programming to address the nuclear industry's critical bottlenecks in construction trades, manufacturing, and fabrication;
• Demonstrate and validate advanced construction techniques to reduce costs and timelines for SMR construction; and
• Support existing manufacturers to enter the nuclear supply chain.

Additional Designations Earned in Region