[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 70 (Friday, April 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17794-17795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9339]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Defense Programs; Inertial Fusion Science in Support of 
Stockpile Stewardship Grant Program

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of solicitation availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy Office of Defense Programs hereby 
announces its interest in receiving grant applications for performance 
of unclassified innovative research in high energy-density science 
relevant to inertial fusion within the stockpile stewardship program.
    The objectives of this new Inertial Fusion Science in Support of 
Stockpile Stewardship Financial Assistance Program are to (1) increase 
U.S. efforts in high-energy-density science relevant to Inertial 
Confinement Fusion (ICF) through funding of small research projects at 
universities and other private sector institutions; (2) promote 
interactions between such investigators and scientists at the 
Department of Energy weapons laboratories, and; (3) assist in training 
scientists in areas of long-term research relevant to stockpile 
stewardship.
    Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the Office of 
Inertial Fusion and the NIF Project intends to provide up to $2 million 
in FY98 for multiple grant awards under this Inertial Fusion Science in 
Support of Stockpile Stewardship Financial Assistance Program. 
Applicants will compete for one-to three-year grant awards through open 
competition with peer review.
    The solicitation document invites applications from all segments of 
the U.S. private sector (non-federal). Any U.S. university or other 
institution of higher education or other non-profit or for-profit 
organization, non-federal agency or entity will be eligible for a grant 
award under this new financial assistance program. Non-U.S. citizens at 
U.S. institutions are eligible. Investigators at foreign institutions 
may not apply as a principal investigator, but may receive funding as a 
co-investigator. DOE must be notified of any foreign nationals involved 
in the funded work, and there may be some restrictions on their 
participation at certain facilities and conferences.

DATES: A solicitation will be available on or about April 11, 1997. 
Preapplications referencing DE-FG03-97DP00167, should be submitted by 
May 1, 1997. Full applications under this notice should be received by 
4:30 pm Eastern Standard Time, June 30, 1997. Initial grant awards 
under this new financial assistance program are planned for about 
November 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The complete solicitation document will be available on or 
about April 11, 1997 on the Internet by accessing the ICF grant program 
home page (http://www3.dp.doe.gov/ifnif/grants.htm) or by accessing the 
DOE/OAK home page (http://www.oak.doe.gov/procure/proc__main.html). 
Prospective applicants may also submit a written request including a 
self-addressed stamped envelope and an MS-DOS formatted high density 
3\1/2\'', virus free diskette to the contracting officer for a diskette 
copy of the solicitation (U.S. Dept. of Energy, Oakland Operations 
Office, 1301 Clay Street 700N, Oakland, CA 94612-5208, Attn: Bill 
O'Neal).
    Completed applications referencing Solicitation Notice DE-PS03-
97DP00167 must be submitted to: Office of Inertial Fusion, DP-18, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD, 20874-
1290, Attn.: Grant Program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Satsangi, 301-903-8059, 
[email protected] or Bill O'Neal 510-637-1880, 
bill.o'[email protected]

[[Page 17795]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Evaluation Process

    Applications will undergo several stages of review: administrative 
review, stewardship/ICF review, and scientific/technical review. The 
administrative review assures that the application is complete, has 
been signed by an authorized official, and is consistent with national 
security and export laws. The stewardship relevance review will be 
performed by a panel consisting of representatives from the three 
weapons laboratories who will evaluate whether applications fall within 
the scope of the grant program. Independent scientific/technical peer 
reviewers will evaluate applications on their merit, will score them 
against an established set of criteria. The DOE selection official will 
be Christopher J. Keane, Associate Director, Office of Inertial Fusion 
and the NIF Project.

Scientific / Technical Merit Evaluation Criteria

    The following evaluation criteria are listed in relative order of 
importance.
    (1) Scientific/technical merit and significance of the research.
    (2) The feasibility of plans for carrying out the proposed research 
considering such factors as appropriateness of the proposed method or 
approach, facility compatibility, other commitments, competition, and 
timing.
    (3) Impact on stewardship mission.
    (4) Adequacy of proposed resources and interest of the applicant 
institution.
    (5) Research performance, capability and future promise of the 
investigator(s).
    (6) Reasonableness and appropriateness of proposed budget.

Representative Research Areas

    Under this solicitation, DOE will consider applications for 
unclassified research in inertial fusion science that is relevant to 
stockpile stewardship. Both theoretical and experimental proposals are 
encouraged. Examples of areas of research (and some subfields) eligible 
for support under this financial assistance program are:
    Hydrodynamics--fluid instabilities, behavior of complex systems;
    Radiative properties and atomic physics--dense plasma behavior, 
plasma spectroscopy, radiative transfer, opacity;
    Plasma physics--interpenetrating plasmas, plasma streaming in 
magnetic fields, laser-plasma instabilities, beam-plasma interactions, 
high-energy-density plasmas;
    Material properties--equation of state, extreme high temperature 
and high pressure regimes, material/radiation interactions;
    Development of Diagnostics--particle (neutron and charged 
particle), spectroscopic (e.g. x-ray);
    Computational Physics--radiation-hydrodynamics codes, material-
radiation interactions new modeling techniques.

Facility Use

    For applicants who propose the use of facilities at one of the ICF 
laboratories, arrangements will need to be made with the specific 
laboratory. Potential applicants should contact the appropriate 
laboratory directly to discuss any facility-related concerns and to 
determine the laboratory's procedures and schedule for submittal of a 
facility use proposal. The laboratory's review of facility use 
proposals for acceptability will take place prior to the DOE selection.

Preapplication

    Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a preapplication 
consisting of one to five pages of narrative describing the research 
objectives and methods of accomplishment. The purpose of the 
preapplication is (1) to provide some feedback to applicants on the 
relevance of their ideas to the program, and (2) to give DOE an idea of 
the number of full applications to expect. A preapplication should 
include cover-page information and a brief (1 to 5 page) project 
description. The cover page should include: a statement that the 
document is a preapplication; principal investigator's (PI) name, 
telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address; name and address of 
PI's organization; and title of the project. The project description 
should include the following, as appropriate: a description of the 
proposed research; a statement of its importance; an explanation of 
methodology and equipment needs, including ICF facility use; 
anticipated results; a project schedule with estimated completion date; 
cost-share and total project cost information. Confidential or 
proprietary information is discouraged, but any such information must 
be clearly marked. Attachments or enclosures submitted with the 
preapplication will not be reviewed.
    Preapplications will be reviewed relative to the goals of the grant 
program and the DOE will respond with a letter informing the applicant 
whether or not the proposed work is within the bounds of the program. 
Preapplications are not required, but are encouraged. Preapplications 
referencing DE-FG03-97DP00167, should be submitted by May 1, 1997 to: 
Office of Inertial, DP-18, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown 
Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, Attn.: Grant Program, or submitted 
electronically to: [email protected].

(The Catalogue of Federal Assistance number for this program is 
81.112.)

    Issued in Oakland, California, on April 2, 1997.
Anthony A. Pino,
Director, Program Acquisition and Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 97-9339 Filed 4-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P