The memorandum below is the official 2023 and 2024 Call for Proposals for the Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Safety Research and Development (NSR&D) Program.  The purpose of the Call for Proposals is to identify potential projects addressing cross-cutting nuclear safety issues across the DOE complex.  The NSR&D Program has a total of approximately $2 million to support FY23 and FY24 projects.  Proposals will be evaluated by the NSR&D Committee.  The number selected for support will depend upon the Committee's evaluations and the required funding. This year’s call for proposals covers both FY 2023 and FY 2024.  Projects selected for FY 2023 funding will be awarded mid CY 2023 while projects selected for FY 2024 funding will be awarded early CY 2024.

Also below are two (2) documents:  Proposal Submittal Instructions and Review and Prioritization of Submitted Proposals.  The latter document, which describes the criteria and process that the NSR&D Committee will use to evaluate proposals, is included to help delineate the types of potential projects that are of greatest interest to the NSR&D Program. 

An important change has been made to this year’s Call for Proposals.  This change will also affect how proposals are scored during the ratings process. The changes are indicated in bold on the accompanying documents.  Please review this information carefully. 

All organizations responding to this solicitation must follow the Proposal Submittal Instructions.  Proposals should be submitted directly to the NSR&D Program.  However, as required by the instructions, please ensure that appropriate Site/Field Office management or headquarters Program Office management is aware of and endorses the proposal(s).  There are no limits on the number of proposals an organization can submit. 

Please submit proposals, as discussed in the memorandum, by Friday, March 31, 2023.  In order to solicit a broad range of proposals, the Office of Nuclear Safety requests dissemination of this information as widely as possible throughout your organization and to your contractors.

Proposals due – Friday, March 31, 2023
Proposal screening, revised proposals due – Early April 2023 
Proposals sent to NSR&D Committee – Mid-April 2023 
NSR&D Committee proposal review – Late-April to Late May 2023 
NSR&D Committee initial ranking meeting – Late May 2023 
NSR&D Committee final ranking meeting – Early June 2023 
Final ranking results and recommendations for new projects to EHSS-30 Director—Mid June 2023 
Notification of proposal selection – Late June to Early July 2023
Notification of proposal selection (FY23) – Late June to Early July 2023
Notification of proposal selection (FY24) – Early Jan to March 2024