A new report from Idaho National Laboratory researchers has found that states with energy-intensive industries and nuclear-friendly regulations are suitable markets for microreactors.

The report, titled “Microreactor Applications in U.S. Markets,” revealed that Alaska and Wyoming are early adopters of advanced nuclear reactors for remote industrial applications like seafood processing and mineral mining, INL said Monday.

“Alaska and Wyoming have their own niche markets, but there is commonality in the remoteness of the applications, mobile uses for microreactors in mining, and energy use for refined products derived from mined sources,” said David Shropshire, a nuclear energy economist at INL.

Shropshire and Steven Aumeier, an INL senior adviser, collaborated with university partners to conduct a state-by-state evaluation of nuclear and carbon policies to assess the market opportunities for microreactors in states undergoing energy transitions.

According to the report, markets with low-carbon sources including wind, solar, geothermal and energy storage are favorable for microreactor deployment.

The report also noted that most microreactor designs could ship easily, making them available for transport to remote locations.

The National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have forged a partnership to create a research center for predicting and modeling the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

The agencies will co-manage a new industry-university cooperative research center to investigate and conduct risk assessments of catastrophic weather, which could also benefit and inform the insurance sector, NSF announced Tuesday.

NSF has been developing IUCRCs to cultivate scientific and technological breakthroughs through the alliance of government, industry and academia.

The latest IUCRC will study and work toward predicting shifts in the behavior of oceans, coasts, weather and climate. It will also be used to explore how human behavior affects and responds to climate change.

The facility will leverage the experiences of climate centers under NSF and NOAA.

“Combining climate and catastrophe models with the goal of producing better decision-making tools is a game changer for the insurance, reinsurance and mortgage industries,” NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick said. “Additionally, we need to not only develop the science and tools in this space, but also the workforce capacity to put knowledge into action.”

The Biden administration is investing a record $11 billion in two programs of the Department of Agriculture to promote clean energy adoption in rural communities in the United States.

The funds will be distributed as grants and loan opportunities to build renewable energy systems in rural America, USDA announced Tuesday.

To activate the investments, the agency will submit letters of interest for the Empowering Rural America and Powering Affordable Clean Energy programs.

The New ERA program will use $9.7 billion to finance rural electric cooperatives with renewable power, zero-emission or carbon capture system projects. Meanwhile, PACE will award $1 billion in partially forgivable loans to municipalities, cooperatives, tribal utilities and other energy providers to support their clean energy initiatives.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture stands ready to partner with municipalities, tribal entities, entrepreneurs, rural electric cooperatives and other utilities to see this transformative investment come to life and create new economic growth and healthier communities,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers, led by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is urging leaders of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to invest in the U.S. Marine Corps’ force modernization efforts. The lawmakers noted that the Marine Corps Force Design initiatives are crucial to boosting maritime defense and countering China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific, Manchin’s office said Tuesday.

“The Marine Corps’ ongoing implementation of Force Design has prioritized investments towards new technologies, formations, platforms, and capabilities. These prioritized efforts have increased lethality, mobility, and survivability to maintain a competitive advantage over our pacing competitor, China,” the letter reads.

According to the lawmakers, the Marine Corps has made significant progress since Force Design began, such as creating adaptive concepts to enable joint missions and investing in experimentation and wargaming events.

“The Marine Corps has delivered. It is now time for us to deliver and provide the support necessary to accelerate the Marine Corps’ full vision of Force Design,” the lawmakers said.

Oracle has received approval from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for its new cloud offerings aimed at defense, civilian and intelligence agencies.

The newly approved services are part of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and are designed to enable government customers to manage virtual cloud networks, perform real-time data analysis and identify and address potential inefficiencies, among other things, Oracle said Tuesday.

Among the services are the OCI Network Visualizer, OCI Vulnerability Scanning Service, OCI GoldenGate, OCI Bastion, VPN Connect, OCI Data Integration and OCI Logging Analytics.

“Government agencies can confidently leverage our FedRAMP Authorized cloud services to meet their mission needs, knowing that we have taken extensive measures to protect their technology, processes, and people,” said Rand Waldron, vice president of global government sector at Oracle.

A third-party assessment organization evaluated the cloud services prior to being reviewed and approved by technical representatives from FedRAMP’s Joint Authorization Board.

The General Services Administration has introduced a web-based tool for federal buyers and vendors to request specialized training in government professional services and human capital contracting processes.

Users of the new online form can also seek resources they believe will address their training needs, according to a GSA blog post published Tuesday.

The application includes a field for topics the requester is interested in, such as an overview of GSA’s One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services and Multiple Award Schedule governmentwide contract vehicles.

A group of GSA officials will participate in GovCon Wire’s 2023 Government Technology & Acquisition Forum on Tuesday, May 23, to share their insights and perspectives on the current federal procurement environment.

Mukunda Penugonde, deputy director of GSA Technology Transformation Services, will headline the virtual event and his keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion.

Visit the GCW events page to register.