Recycling Spent Nuclear Fuel: Curio, Energy Northwest Exploring Potential at Reactor
Curio, a developer of nuclear technologies, announced it will expand its partnership with Energy Northwest, a joint operating agency and nuclear energy operator located in eastern Washington, to advance the recycling of nuclear fuel and look for new opportunities in nuclear energy sustainability.
Among the initiatives in the expanded partnership a deal where Curio will work with Energy Northwest to deploy its advanced NuCycle technology to recycle used nuclear fuel from Energy Northwest’s nuclear energy facility at Columbia Generating Station in Benton County, Washington.
The partnership also will explore the potential supply of recycled products, including uranium hexafluoride (UF6), enhancing the reuse of nuclear materials.
More than 90% of potential energy remains in spent nuclear fuel even after five years of operation in a reactor, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Some newer advanced reactor designs are researching ways to recycle and utilize spent fuel effectively.
“This nascent technology represents a paradigm shift for the commercial nuclear energy industry and a viable path forward for clean, and reliable power for the Pacific Northwest,” said Bob Schuetz, CEO of Energy Northwest, in a statement.
Curio's website says its' NuCycle technology using chemistries which reduce criticality challenges and efficiently extract isotropes to redeploy the spent fuel for new nuclear power applications.
Joint efforts will evaluate how Curio's NuCycle unit operations can be adapted to Energy Northwest’s preferred TRISO-fuel configurations, aiming for the development and demonstration of recycling processes for these fuel types. TRISO fuel is necessary for operating the X-energy reactor technology that is planned to be used for Energy Northwest’s potential small modular reactor (SMR) project in the Northwest.
"This expanded partnership with Energy Northwest is a testament to our shared vision of advancing nuclear fuel recycling technologies,” said Ed McGinnis, CEO of Curio. “Together, we are setting the stage for a more sustainable nuclear power landscape, where efficiency and environmental stewardship go hand in hand."
Last year, Curio announced it would work with microreactor designer NANO Nuclear Energy on technology to recycle spent fuel. Meanwhile, GE Vernova's subsidiary Global Nuclear Fuel has gained U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to develop and study Uranium-235 enriched fuel in hopes of improving fuel cycle economics and efficiencies.
The U.S. nuclear power fleet generates about 2,000 metric tons of spent fuel annually, a DOE fact sheet report reads. Since spent fuel rods are solid, their mass is equivalent to half the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the DOE.
Columbia Generating Station is a one-unit 1.2-GW boiling water reactor plant built and commissioned 40 years ago. It generates close to 8.4 million MWh of carbon-free electricity annually, according to reports by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
