Advanced Nuclear Energy Programs

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)

The Advanced Nuclear Energy Program manages Los Alamos National Laboratory's involvement in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). GNEP is a comprehensive strategy to increase U.S. and global energy security, reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation, encourage clean development around the world, and improve the environment. A plentiful, reliable supply of energy is the cornerstone of sustained economic growth and prosperity. Nuclear power is the only proven technology that can provide abundant supplies of base-load electricity reliably and without air pollution or emissions of greenhouse gasses. GNEP provides for the safe expansion of clean, affordable nuclear power to meet the growing worldwide demand for energy and encourage the growth of prosperity around the globe. GNEP is both a major research and technology development initiative and a major international policy partnership initiative. It addresses the two key barriers that hindered full development of nuclear power in the later half of the twentieth century: how to use sensitive technologies responsibly in a way that protects global security and how to dispose of the waste safely. GNEP focuses on overcoming these barriers, and doing so in cooperation with other advanced nuclear nations, to bring the benefits of nuclear energy to the world safely and securely.

Read more about GNEP and Los Alamos' role in the partnership.

Generation IV

Today, 441 nuclear power reactors in 31 countries generate 17 percent of the world's electricity without emitting noxious gases into the atmosphere. Concerns over energy resource availability, climate change, air quality, and energy security suggest an important role for nuclear power in the future. While the current Generation II and III nuclear power plant designs provide a secure and low-cost electricity supply for nearly 1 billion people, further advances in nuclear energy system design can broaden the opportunities for the use of nuclear energy. To explore these opportunities, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology has engaged governments, industry, and the research community worldwide in a wide-ranging discussion on the development of next generation nuclear energy systems known as "Generation IV."

Los Alamos is supporting Generation IV by testing lead coolants in its unique DELTA facility for the Lead Fast Reactor Program, and by investigating materials compatibility and corrosion in supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle applications in collaboration with MIT for the cross-cutting Energy Conversion Program.

Read the Generation IV Technology Roadmap

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