Request for Information (RFI) on Transmutation of Nuclear Waste | DE FOA 0003091

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003091

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) issued this notice as a Request for Information (RFI) on transmutation of nuclear waste under Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003091. It is strictly an information-gathering effort and not a funding solicitation: there is no award funding associated with it (award ceiling listed as $0 and expected awards listed as 0), and ARPA-E is not accepting applications for financial assistance through this announcement. Instead, ARPA-E is asking stakeholders to provide technical and market input that could shape a future ARPA-E program.

The RFI sits within ARPA-E's broader mission to develop high-impact energy technologies, including technologies that improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. ARPA-E notes that it already has multiple programs in this area (GEMINI, MEITNER, ONWARDS, and CURIE) aimed at reducing radioactive waste volume by roughly a factor of 10 or more and decreasing required storage time by a comparable amount. The agency is now exploring whether nuclear transmutation, specifically targeting key fission products and actinides remaining in waste streams, could push those reductions further by additional orders of magnitude. The central concept is that transmutation could convert long-lived, highly radiotoxic isotopes into shorter-lived and/or more stable isotopes, which in turn could reduce long-term radiotoxicity, shrink the effective waste burden, and shorten the time horizons required for secure storage and disposal.

ARPA-E is particularly interested in "transmutation enabling technologies" rather than only end-to-end facility concepts. The RFI emphasizes practical performance and system-level considerations such as improving reliability and duty cycles (how consistently and how long a transmutation system can operate effectively) while also driving down both capital costs and operating costs. In other words, the agency is looking for ideas that could make transmutation systems not just scientifically plausible, but operationally robust and economically credible. ARPA-E also signals that understanding the economic conditions that would justify building and operating a transmutation facility is a priority input area for any future program design.

Beyond waste reduction, the RFI highlights potential co-benefits and adjacent applications that ARPA-E wants to hear about. These include the generation of valuable isotopes, radioisotopes (including those relevant to medicine), and semiconductor production. By including these topics, the RFI suggests ARPA-E is open to concepts where transmutation infrastructure or associated neutron sources, separation methods, or irradiation capabilities could support commercially or societally valuable products, potentially improving overall project economics and strengthening the case for deployment.

The notice also points to reprocessing as a potentially important component for efficient transmutation, since separating or conditioning spent fuel and waste streams can affect how effectively particular isotopes can be targeted. ARPA-E specifically calls out that the location of any reprocessing capability matters: placing reprocessing at the waste-generating sites versus colocating it with the transmutation facility could change transportation needs, regulatory complexity, throughput logistics, and overall cost. The RFI also raises the possibility that multiple facilities might be needed depending on the desired scale of waste reduction and the size and throughput of individual transmutation plants, implying interest in modularity, scalability, and networked infrastructure concepts rather than assuming a single centralized solution.

On funding context, while the RFI itself does not provide funding, it notes that there may be relevant funding sources in the broader nuclear ecosystem, such as funds associated with reactor decommissioning and the nuclear waste fund, that could potentially support activities aligned with these goals. This is presented as a factor respondents may want to consider when discussing real-world pathways to implementation and financing, even though ARPA-E is not making commitments through this RFI.

Eligibility for providing input is effectively open: the listing states eligible applicants are "unrestricted," and ARPA-E explicitly invites perspectives from both developers and end-users across national laboratories, universities, private industry, and the medical community. The common thread ARPA-E is seeking is early-stage, novel, and potentially disruptive approaches that are still early in the research and development cycle, consistent with ARPA-E's typical focus on high-risk, high-reward technical innovation.

Administratively, responses were requested as PDF submissions emailed to ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov, with a deadline of 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 12, 2023. The RFI was created May 15, 2023, and the full text and detailed instructions were made available through ARPA-E's funding opportunity website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the opportunity zone benefits, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI) on Transmutation of Nuclear Waste" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 15, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2023 Reponses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 500 p.m. Eastern Time on 6/12/2023. For further instruction, please review the RFI in its entirety at https://apra-e-foa.energy.gov.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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