DOE makes first pick for advanced fuel pilot project

Tuesday, 5 August 2025

The fuel line pilot programme supports the Department of Energy's (DOE) new reactor pilot programme, which aims to have at least three advanced reactor designs achieve criticality by 4 July 2026. The fuel line pilot programme was launched with a Request for Application on 15 July.

The DOE is moving rapidly to "unleash innovation and maintain American leadership in nuclear energy development", Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said. "Advanced nuclear reactors will be a game-changer for the United States, and with that comes the need to fabricate the fuel for these reactors. The Department of Energy is partnering private sector innovation with DOE expertise to assure stronger US nuclear supply lines."

Standard Nuclear has been selected to "expand, build, and operate advanced fuel fabrication facilities for TRISO fuels in both Tennessee and Idaho", according to information from the DOE. The company will be responsible for all costs associated with the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the  facility. Reactor project developers will manage the sourcing of nuclear material feedstock for fuel fabrication, which could be acquired through DOE's high-assay low-enriched uranium allocation programme, the department said.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear describes itself as a "reactor-agnostic producer of TRISO nuclear fuel". The company, which was founded in 2024, announced its launch from stealth in June, with USD42 million in total funding. At that time, it said it had already booked USD5 million in contracts in the first quarter of 2025, signed a major fuel offtake agreement, and established strategic customer relationships for its various products and services with a diversified group of commercial and government customers.

TRISO - for tristructural isotropic - particle fuel is composed of tiny uranium-bearing spheres encapsulated by successive layers of carbon and ceramic-based materials. Each TRISO particle, about the size of a poppy seed, acts as its own containment system for uranium and its radioactive fission products. High-assay low-enriched uranium TRISO fuels are the preferred fuel in several advanced reactor designs currently under development.

Standard Nuclear owns and operates a set of fully equipped commercial-scale facilities on its campus located at the former K-25 Nuclear site in Oak Ridge. According to company information, it operates its fully permitted radiological facilities to manufacture and supply TRISO fuel forms with varying specifications for its multiple commercial and government customers.

The company's CEO is Kurt Terrani, formerly Executive Vice President for fuel development at micro modular reactor and TRISO fuel company Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation. USNC declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2024. Its nuclear energy technology assets were subsequently purchased by NANO Nuclear Inc.