The Department of Energy's National Reactor Innovation Center has selected 13 new projects across 12 companies for its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative, widening a federal authorization pathway that moves advanced reactor and fuel cycle developers toward demonstration on federal and non-federal sites. The selections were announced on August 24 and expand a program that named its first four participants in April.
Fuel supply work features heavily in the round. Raven-Flint Nuclear of Idaho Falls is developing a uranium conversion process that turns uranium oxide concentrate into specification-grade uranium hexafluoride without elemental fluorine, and is designing a pilot plant sized for 500 metric tons of uranium a year. Nusano of West Valley City, Utah is pursuing a high-assay low-enriched uranium production process that avoids gas centrifuges, with a target of roughly 350 metric tons annually by 2029. Sublime Nuclear of Los Angeles is working on modular capacity for domestic uranium conversion.
Reactor and fuel developers on the list include Antares Nuclear, Atlas Atomics, Deployable Energy, Forge Atomics, Oklo, Scaled Atomics and Valar Atomics, alongside fuel designer Lightbridge and isotope technology firm Hexium.
The initiative supplies DOE authorization, national laboratory expertise, infrastructure access and regulatory support. Developers carry the full cost of their own projects, and the DOE process leaves Nuclear Regulatory Commission authority over commercial facilities intact. Josh Jarrell, DOE deputy assistant secretary for the nuclear fuel cycle, said the selected projects reflect real progress on fabrication, enrichment and conversion technologies and that the department is committed to strengthening domestic fuel availability. NRIC plans to keep accepting applications and may announce further selections on a rolling basis.
Source: POWER Magazine - https://www.powermag.com/nric-adds-13-projects-to-nuclear-energy-launch-pad-expanding-advanced-reactor-and-fuel-cycle-pipeline/