Advancing Nuclear Safety, Security, and Nonproliferation through the FIRST Program

ISN/CTR administers the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology Program (FIRST), which was launched in 2019 and formally announced at the Leaders’ Climate Summit in April 2021. FIRST provides technical capacity-building support to potential nuclear energy newcomer countries and current nuclear energy countries that are considering small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactor designs to meet their energy needs, consistent with the highest international standards of nuclear security, nonproliferation, and safety. FIRST is designed to enhance U.S. bilateral and multilateral cooperation, consistent with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) nuclear energy infrastructure development milestones approach, in nuclear energy infrastructure development, nuclear security, and capacity-building. In so doing, the program supports secure, safe, and proliferation-resistant deployment of SMRs or other advanced reactors to partner countries.

Recognizing the many years required to develop the necessary infrastructure to support a nuclear power program, FIRST provides essential capacity-building support and technical expertise to priority partner countries to advance the secure and responsible utilization of civilian nuclear reactors, especially SMRs and other advanced reactors.

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, environmental, and foreign ministries, and academia (at the faculty level). Audiences for these activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Nuclear 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 and environmental ministries, science ministries, finance ministries, foreign diplomats, university partners, and local officials in the context of capacity-building for FIRST.
• Government Operators, Regulators, Utilities, Technical Experts, and Security Personnel: FIRST engages operators, regulators, and security personnel to implement programs that ensure the highest standards for nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation.
• Technical Organization Decision Makers: To ensure the sustainability and success of FIRST engagement with operators, regulators, and security personnel, FIRST engages relevant decision makers and nuclear industry officials.

Goal

• FIRST helps partner countries:
  • 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 relationships through government, industry, national laboratory, and university engagements.
  • FIRST tailors each engagement to meet the partner’s specific needs through a multi-module collaborative training and capacity building program. With partners from across the U.S. Government and experts from academia, private industry,
  • non-governmental organizations, and U.S. national laboratories, FIRST brings diverse expertise on the cutting edge of nuclear technology to build partner country capacity.

Objectives 

• FIRST will fund activities that align with tailored capacity-building support 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 this objective.
• Empower potential nuclear energy newcomer countries to prioritize nuclear security, nonproliferation, and safety considerations from the outset as key decisional criteria when evaluating civil nuclear reactor technologies, with an emphasis on SMRs and other advanced reactor designs. FIRST provides capacity building support to partner countries as they develop their nuclear energy programs to achieve their energy goals under the highest international standards for nuclear security, safety, and nonproliferation. FIRST provides this support in a manner consistent with the IAEA Milestones Approach for implementing a responsible nuclear power program. These efforts support the ability of the United States to uphold and strengthen global nuclear nonproliferation, security, and safety norms at the facility and national level and in international forums such as the IAEA.

Funding Information 

• Total Funding Ceiling: $19,500,000
• Anticipated number of awards: Ten Awards may range from a minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $4,000,000
• Duration: 15 months

Expected Outcomes

• The FIRST program engages with 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 and utilize in-country activities where necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the ongoing training effort.
• All proposals will measure partner capacity before and after training and engagement, with the expectation that skills, procedures, technical understanding, and abilities have increased due to ISN/CTR support.

Eligible Countries

• FIRST prioritizes nuclear energy newcomer countries and, in some cases, current nuclear energy countries located primarily in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.
• This line of effort for FY25 is primarily focused on partner states including but not limited to Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, and regional), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand), sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Kenya, and regional), and a limited number of Central Asian (Kazakhstan, and regional), Latin American and the Caribbean (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru, and regional).

Eligibility Criteria

• U.S.-based non-profit/non-governmental organizations with or without 501(c) (3) status of the U.S. tax code; foreign-based non-profit organizations/non-government organizations (NGO); federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs); public International Organizations; Foreign Public Entity; U.S.-based private, public, or state institutions of higher education; foreign-based institutions of higher education, and U.S. for-profit organizations or businesses.

Application Requirements

• For all application documents, please ensure:
  • All documents are in English, and all costs are in U.S. dollars. If an original document within the application is in another language, an English translation must be provided. If any document is provided in both English and a foreign language, the English language version is the controlling version;
  • All pages are numbered, including budgets and attachments;
  • All documents are formatted to 8 ½ x 11 paper; and,
  • All documents are single-spaced, 14-point Calibri font, with 1-inch margins. Captions and footnotes may be 10-point Calibri font. Font sizes in charts and tables, including the budget, can be reformatted to fit within 1 page width.
  • All application materials must be submitted through the online portal unless you are a U.S. Government entity applying for Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA) funding.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.