- INL has secured a leading role in the INEC Tech Hub
- The initiative pairs a $31 million federal grant with $9 million in matching funds
- The Tech Hub is expected to create hundreds of regional jobs
The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory will help lead nuclear energy technology work under a multistate economic development effort called the Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Corridor, or INEC, Tech Hub.
INL said Monday the INEC Tech Hub has received a five-year, $31 million grant through the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The grant, combined with $9 million in matching funds and investments, is expected to contribute more than $40 million to the Idaho-Wyoming region.
The Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium, or IAEC, will administer the grant.
What Is the INEC Tech Hub?
Led by IAEC, the INEC Tech Hub is a regional effort that aims to establish Idaho and Wyoming as leaders in small modular reactor and advanced nuclear technology.
The initiative builds on the region’s existing nuclear manufacturing and service base to grow its share of the global small modular reactor market. Plans call for shared collaboration spaces, incubators and testbeds for nuclear startups, along with workforce training programs, to support reactor development and production. The Tech Hub also aims to shorten reactor deployment timelines to help bring advanced nuclear technology to market within the next decade.
According to INL, the Tech Hub is expected to generate hundreds of energy jobs in the Intermountain West over the next five years, along with thousands of additional nuclear industry jobs nationwide. The initiative is also expected to help strengthen energy security and grid reliability across the region.
How Will INL Contribute to the Tech Hub’s Work?
INL, a founding partner in IAEC, will support projects to help address challenges to nuclear energy expansion.
The laboratory’s focus areas include establishing a self-sufficient domestic nuclear fuel supply to reduce reliance on foreign sources; helping industry partners move technologies to market faster by navigating regulatory requirements and community engagement; and expanding workforce training programs in manufacturing, engineering and skilled trades.
What Did INL Officials Say About the Tech Hub?
INL Director John Wagner said the grant reflects the laboratory’s long-standing view that advanced nuclear energy will be central to the country’s energy future.
“This Tech Hub brings together the capabilities, infrastructure and partnerships needed to move from research and development to deployment at scale,” Wagner said.
Hope Morrow, workforce and economic development programs manager at INL, said the initiative extends beyond any single organization or community.
“The INEC Tech Hub is what American innovation looks like when everyone brings their best, and the people of the Intermountain West are going to see the benefits in jobs, opportunity and long-term energy security,” Morrow added.
What Other Nuclear Energy Initiatives Is INL Advancing?
The Tech Hub builds on a series of recent nuclear energy initiatives at INL. The laboratory recently opened its Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments testbed to industry-led microreactor testing to help speed up the development of advanced reactor technologies.
In February, INL and NVIDIA partnered to leverage artificial intelligence to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems. The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy also announced plans to activate the Teton supercomputer at INL to expand the laboratory’s high-performance computing capacity and support faster reactor and fuel research.
