ARPA-E selects eight transuranic fuel projects for up to $50 million
Awards total almost $45 million so far, with the largest at $7 million each; the program targets fuel qualification in under seven years, per an ARPA-E spokesperson.
Key facts
- Westinghouse's $7 million award covers laser powder bed fusion metallic fuel, 24-month cycles
- Oklo gets $6,842,989 for U-TRU-Zr metal fuel aimed at sodium-cooled reactors
- Idaho National Laboratory is the only HORNIG participant that also advanced a CURIE project
- Standard Nuclear gets $6,999,984 for TRISO fuel from recycled transuranic and uranium feedstock
- Sandia ($3,381,128) and Exodys ($1,300,792) will analyze the other projects' costs and deployment
ARPA-E, the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, selected eight projects on October 29 for funding under a program to make advanced reactor fuel from transuranic elements recovered from used nuclear fuel. The projects are slated to receive a combined total of up to $50 million. Grant amounts currently total almost $45 million, and the largest awards are $7 million each.
The program, High-Performance Optimized Recycled Nuclear Isotopes for Gen IV Reactors (HORNIG), was announced in April and is intended to advance Executive Order 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base.” Its projects would repurpose transuranic waste elements derived from nuclear weapons production, including plutonium, in domestic production of fuel for commercial reactors.
Qualifying a new reactor fuel type can take more than a decade. HORNIG aims to shorten that to under seven years by combining fuel manufacturing, modeling and testing early in each project, an ARPA-E spokesperson said; existing safety and regulatory guidelines apply. HORNIG builds on CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), launched in 2022 to research recovery of reusable material, including TRU elements, from used fuel. Of the eight participants, only Idaho National Laboratory also advanced a project through CURIE.
Three projects receive $7 million each
Westinghouse, Cranberry Township, Pa., $7,000,000: “PowerBlock: Additively Manufactured Metallic Fuel,” produced with laser powder bed fusion and targeting 24-month fuel cycles at thermal power levels above 4,200 MW, for the current fleet and advanced reactors.
Oregon State University, Corvallis, $7,000,000: “TRU-Nitride Fuel for Advanced Reactors,” fabricating recycled transuranic-bearing nitride fuel using a low-temperature process.
Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, $7,000,000: “Irradiation of Molten Plutonium Actinide Chloride Fuels and Testing (IMPACT),” developing and testing a chloride fuel salt containing recycled TRU elements for molten salt reactors.
Standard Nuclear, Oak Ridge, Tenn., $6,999,984: mixed oxycarbide TRISO fuel for high-temperature gas reactors. Oklo, Santa Clara, Calif., $6,842,989: transuranic-bearing U-TRU-Zr metallic fuel for sodium-cooled reactors. Texas A&M University, College Station, $5,377,799: a liquid thorium-based fuel salt incorporating transuranic elements for molten salt reactors.
Two awards fund analysis of the remaining projects
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., $3,381,128: decision-support capability for scaling TRU fuel production that accounts for uncertainty. Exodys Energy, New York, $1,300,792: a common framework for evaluating transuranic fuel feedstocks, fuel-cycle costs, transportation and deployment requirements across the program.
