Scaling Advanced Nuclear Fuel Production to Meet Rising Demand

Standard Nuclear announced construction is mostly finished on two new identical facilities, located in Tennessee and Idaho. Finishing the facility is a major milestone in producing advanced nuclear fuel in a society where demand is higher than ever.

Right now, the company makes up to 0.5 metric tons of TRISO fuel a year at its existing Oak Ridge location. However, as more advanced reactors get built, they need a lot more fuel. TRISO is a highly engineered fuel that provides its own safety function directly within the reactor core. This is why having a reliable supply is incredibly important.

These two new plants, called SN-TN and SN-ID, will help fix the shortage. At first, they will provide up to 1 metric ton of extra capacity each year. Eventually, they can scale up to add 5 metric tons total annually.

Quick Construction to Scale Advanced Nuclear Fuel

Standard Nuclear built these facilities so quickly because it uses a modular framework. They designed a production line that works and copied it. This repeatable design makes construction fast and cuts down on uncertainty.

They also just received early safety approvals from the U.S. Department of Energy. Once fully authorized, these lines will operate as Hazard Category 2 nuclear facilities.

“This comprehensive milestone represents the core of our mission at Standard Nuclear: focused execution to scale quickly to meet the increasing customer demand for advanced nuclear fuel,” said Kurt Terrani, CEO of Standard Nuclear. “Our ability to deploy additional production lines rests on the maturity of our modular manufacturing framework, allowing replication of safe and proven systems that allow us to scale quickly, reducing time-to-market while maintaining a lean capital footprint.”

Terrani continued, “This same framework maturity, coupled with the incredible support and technical assistance we have received from Idaho National Laboratory experts, helped streamline our progress through DOE’s rigorous nuclear facility licensing process as we aim to fulfill our mission to fuel the nation’s advanced reactor fleet.”

The Future of Safe Fuel

This summer, the company will focus on starting up the new plants and finishing the licensing process. They are also building another fuel line in Washington state through a joint venture with Framatome, Inc.

Expanding domestic nuclear capacity depends entirely on having enough safe fuel ready to go. With construction wrapping up, Standard Nuclear is getting ready to meet that customer demand.