Using a technology and systems readiness assessment to roadmap a nuclear energy R&D program

This paper discusses modification of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Technology Readiness Assessment Guide for use in the Office of Nuclear Energy's Nuclear Technology Research and Development (NTRD) program. The DOE Guide describes an approach for identifying and managing technology risks in large construction projects to ensure technology development is part of the project baseline and technology maturity is sufficiently advanced before including a technology in the facility design. The process includes the identification of Critical Technology Elements (CTEs), followed by in-depth evaluation of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and development of Technology Maturation Plans (TMPs) for those CTEs. This approach was modified and augmented to instead support an ongoing research program. This included developing subject tracks to better organize the evaluations that determine the level of knowledge/maturation of the CTEs and developing maturation task sequence diagrams that roll up into technology roadmaps. A trial application of the approach was performed for a complete advanced nuclear fuel cycle (from uranium mining to waste disposal). The paper includes lessons learned from this application.