US-based nuclear waste storage and disposal company Deep Isolation has announced completion of Project UPWARDS which advances the development of a first-of-a-kind integrated waste management system for advanced reactors. The three-year project was delivered on time and on budget with grant support from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) initiative. It culminated in the manufacture, physical testing and validation of a disposal-ready Universal Canister System (UCS) for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from advanced reactors.
The results provide a strong technical foundation expected to support future regulatory engagement, pilot deployment, and commercialisation efforts. Project UPWARDS (Universal Performance Criteria & Canister for Advanced Reactor Waste Form Acceptance in Borehole & Mined Repositories Considering Design Safety) was carried out by Deep Isolation in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and NAC International.
The team advanced critical technical milestones, including development of waste form acceptance criteria, and integrated safety and performance assessments across multiple repository types. Working with R-V Industries, in Pennsylvania, the team completed fabrication of the first UCS prototype canister. Rigorous testing of the Company’s Universal Canister System with the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Texas provided evidence of mechanical integrity and operational viability in simulated real-world geologic conditions (without used nuclear fuel or waste), providing a physical validation for the nuclear waste disposal system.
UCS is designed to accommodate a range of advanced reactor waste streams, including vitrified waste from reprocessing TRISO (TRI-structural ISOtropic) used fuel, and halide salts from molten salt reactors. UCS is compatible with modern dry storage and transport infrastructure and also meets performance and safety requirements across both borehole and mined repository options. This gives governments and operators greater flexibility and reduced uncertainty in future waste disposition.
By completing UPWARDS, Deep Isolation and its partners established a strong technical foundation for integrated, cost-optimised nuclear waste strategies. This foundation is expected to support the Company’s next steps toward commercialisation of the UCS across the US advanced reactor sector and globally.
“This innovative Universal Canister System addresses one of the nuclear industry’s most urgent challenges – just at the time when the US is significantly ramping up its investment in new nuclear technologies to deliver energy security and power the AI revolution,” said Jesse Sloane, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Deep Isolation and Principal Investigator for the project. “By fabricating and testing a universal, triple-purpose canister that is engineered for storage, transportation, and disposal of nuclear waste in multiple repository types, we have delivered a flexible and technically robust solution that has undergone extensive testing and is intended to support future real-world deployment.”
Assel Aitkaliyeva, ARPA-E Program Director, noted: “Deep Isolation and its UPWARDS partners developed a groundbreaking disposal solution for a broad range of advanced fuels and recycling products. ARPA-E’s mission is to support disruptive, outlier ideas, and this Universal Canister System has the potential to transform the nuclear industry by offering a safe, scalable pathway to manage used nuclear fuel.”
Kent Cole, CEO at NAC International said: “The Universal Canister System is a vital step toward scalable, safe, and cost-effective solutions for the back end of the fuel cycle. NAC International is eager to advance the integration of this exciting innovation into our existing licensed systems for storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and to partner with Deep Isolation in commercialising it around the world.”
In May, Deep Isolation completed Project PUCK, a US government-funded initiative to demonstrate the feasibility and potential commercial readiness of the UCS to manage TRISO used fuel. Deep Isolation worked with Kairos Power to conceptually evaluate the use of TRISO pebble fuel, verifying UCS as a safe, scalable solution for deep borehole disposal for next-generation reactors. Project PUCK (Performance Validation of the Universal Canister System for Kairos Power) was launched in July 2024 under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).
