TRISO Nuclear Fuel Developer Makes DOE Supply Chain Pilot

Many see growing nuclear energy capacity as paramount to meeting the nation’s power generation needs for an anticipated 125 GW of coming data centers and artificial intelligence training models.

Aug. 6, 2025

2 min read

TRISO Fuel Image Credit Idaho National Lab/US Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen the first company in its plan to develop a new supply chain for advanced reactor nuclear fuels of the future.

The DOE selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear as the first U.S. company under the pilot program announced in tandem with President Trump’s executive order on accelerating advanced nuclear reactor development. Many see growing nuclear energy capacity as paramount to meeting the nation’s power generation needs for an anticipated 125 GW of coming data centers and artificial intelligence training models.

The pilot seeks to change the nation’s current reliance on imported sources of enriched uranium and other critical elements in the nuclear power generation supply chain.

“With President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department is moving at a rapid pace to unleash innovation and maintain American leadership in nuclear energy development,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. “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 U.S. nuclear supply lines.”

Standard Nuclear owns and operates TRISO fuel production lines on the site of a former nuclear power plant in Oak Ridge. The company was founded one year ago and recently gained $42 million in new funding by Decisive Point with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, Welara, Fundomo and Crucible Capital,

The advanced fuel is in high demand as reactor developers get ready to test their designs that utilize TRISO fuel. Standard Nuclear 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 program.

The fuel line pilot program supports DOE’s new reactor pilot program that aims to have at least three advanced reactor designs achieve criticality by July 4, 2026.