Unleashing American Energy Dominance and Expediting Responsible and Secure U.S. Small Modular Reactor Deployment through the FIRST Program

Opportunity snapshot. This Grants.gov announcement — Unleashing American Energy Dominance and Expediting Responsible and Secure U.S. Small Modular Reactor Deployment through the FIRST Program — is cataloged under number DFOP0017227 and tied to CFDA assistance listing 19.033, posted by Bureau of International Security-Nonproliferation. Grants.gov currently shows the opportunity as closed, first posted on May 30, 2025 and last updated on July 28, 2025. The funding category is Discretionary, delivered as a cooperative agreement.

Award economics. The award range on file is $50,000 -- $4,000,000. The agency has projected $19.5 million in total estimated funding for this announcement. It expects to issue 10 awards. If the agency funds the expected 10 awards from the $19.5 million estimated pool, the average award works out to roughly $1.9 million. Cost sharing is not required, so applicants do not need to commit matching funds to be competitive on this opportunity. Federal award ranges are often upper bounds; actual allocations reflect program appropriations, the strength of the applicant pool, and the evaluation committee's scoring.

Deadline and action path. This opportunity closed on July 30, 2025. Future funding cycles may be published under the same CFDA number, so monitoring the parent program page is the most reliable way to catch re-announcements. Every Grants.gov submission requires an active SAM.gov registration and a Unique Entity ID. Review the Eligibility section below carefully — federal eligibility categories (nonprofit, state or local government, tribal, individual, educational institution, small business) have distinct registration and reporting requirements. Pre-application outreach to the listed agency contact is permitted and often welcomed — it helps clarify scope and scoring priorities.