Following the submission of a letter of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on 23 February, France-based Newcleo has now begun early interactions with the NRC that are intended to familiarise NRC staff with the proposed facility designs and associated safety approaches for both the Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) and the mixed uranium/plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility. These discussions also support the development of regulatory plans and facilitate NRC resource and budget planning, it said.
“Newcleo is pursuing the necessary NRC licences for the development of the LFR and the fuel fabrication facility, as well as for the possession, use, and transportation of associated nuclear materials,” the company said. “This early engagement represents an important first step toward establishing a clear and predictable regulatory pathway for the approval of Newcleo’s technologies in the United States.”
The MOX fuel fabrication facility forms part of a strategic partnership announced in October 2025 between Newcleo and Oklo. Oklo is developing its sodium-cooled fast-reactor Aurora powerhouses, while Newcleo is developing lead-cooled small modular reactor technology, aiming to use reprocessed nuclear fuel to power its reactors. In October, the two companies signed an agreement to develop advanced fuel fabrication and manufacturing infrastructure in the USA.
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A visualisation of the planned MOX facility (Image: Newcleo)
“Our early engagement with the NRC enables a structured and transparent dialogue covering both the fuel fabrication and LFR facilities,” said Stefano Buono, founder and CEO of Newcleo. “This process is essential to ensure that our future applications are aligned with NRC requirements from the outset. We welcome the constructive interactions we’ve had with the NRC to this point, and we look forward to establishing a clear licensing timeline for our US projects, including the advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing infrastructure that we plan to deploy in partnership with Oklo.”
Newcleo plans to directly invest in a MOX plant to fuel its small modular lead-cooled fast reactors. The MOX fuel would be produced from nuclear materials recovered through the reprocessing of used fuel. In June 2022 the company announced it had contracted France’s Orano for feasibility studies on the establishment of a MOX production plant. In July last year, Newcleo received a favourable opinion from the council of the Aube Department region of eastern France to sell a plot of land in the Nogentais area, which could host the its MOX fuel manufacturing facility. At the time, Newcleo said it planned to submit construction authorisation applications for both the MOX fuel facility and a demonstration reactor in France by the end of 2026.
