WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy announced that it expects to award up to 54 cooperative agreements for consolidated innovative nuclear research. The agency description of the cooperative agreement states: "The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy's (NE) mission is to advance U.S. nuclear power in order to meet the nation's energy needs by: 1) Enhancing the long-term viability and competitiveness of the existing U.S. reactor fleet more ST