The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy has awarded more than $19m to five US companies to research and develop recycling technologies for used nuclear fuel. The projects will aim to maximise reliable power production, end US reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium, and drastically reducing the volume of stored used fuel. The projects will last up to three years and require a minimum 20% cost share from each award recipient.
The selected companies include:
- Alpha Nur, which will research and validate a process that will recover highly enriched uranium (HEU) from used nuclear fuel produced by US based research reactors and transform it to a usable high assay low enrichment uranium (HALEU) form for reuse in small modular reactor designs. Alpha Nur is a Chicago-based startup founded in 2021 by University of Chicago students Kevin O’Sullivan and Mason Rodriguez Rand.
- Curio Solutions, which will develop a process designed to produce uranium hexafluoride gas from used fuel. Washington-based startup Curio Solutions was founded in September 2021 by brothers Rabbi Yechezkel Moskowitz and Yehudah Moskowitz.
- Flibe Energy, which will study the use of electrochemical methods to process used nuclear fuel. Alabama-based Flibe Energy was founded in 2011 by Kirk Sorensen to develop Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors.
- Oklo, which will study heavy element deposition in molten salt to optimise a pyro-processing plant design. California-based Oklo, founded in 2013 by Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran, focuses on developing fast fission power plants
- Shine Technologies, which will develop a process design that incorporates transport, storage, and disposal together with hydro-processing of used fuel. Wisconsin-based Shine Technologies was founded in 2010 by Dr Gregory Piefer to harness nuclear fusion for practical applications starting with medical isotope production.
“Used nuclear fuel is an incredible untapped resource in the United States,” said Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish. “The Trump Administration is taking a common-sense approach to making sure we’re using our resources in the most efficient ways possible to secure American energy independence and fuel our economic growth.”
DOE noted that less than 5% of the potential energy in nuclear fuel is extracted after five years of operation in a commercial reactor. Recycling used nuclear fuel could increase resource utilisation by 95%, reduce waste by 90%, and decrease the amount of uranium needed to operate nuclear reactors. Additional benefits to nuclear fuel recycling include the recovery and extraction of valuable radioisotopes for medical, industrial, and defence purposes.
