Under the agreement, the partners will evaluate source-to-product and source-to-fuel pathways for materials recoverable through Curio’s proprietary NuCycle technology, while identifying opportunities for future engineering coordination, fuel development, qualification, fabrication, and commercialisation. The collaboration will also seek to facilitate connections across the nuclear supply chain to more seamlessly bring next-generation fuel and product streams to market.
As part of the MoU, the companies will conduct technical assessments, feasibility studies, supply chain analyses, and interface evaluations to identify potential opportunities for future development agreements and commercial partnerships. Together, the parties seek to identify practical pathways that can strengthen both domestic and international nuclear fuel supply chains, support long-term energy security objectives, and help meet growing global demand for reliable, carbon-free nuclear energy.
“The collaboration reflects growing industry recognition that meeting future energy demand will require integrated fuel cycle solutions capable of supporting both domestic reactor deployment and expanding international nuclear energy markets,” Curio said. “By evaluating opportunities across the entire value chain, the parties aim to identify pathways that could support the commercialisation of advanced fuels and fuel-cycle solutions needed to power the next generation of nuclear energy systems.”
The parties anticipate that this collaboration may lead to future agreements focused on technology development, fuel qualification, supply chain development, and commercial deployment opportunities.
“America’s ability to lead the next era of nuclear energy will depend on more than building reactors – it will require building the fuel cycle infrastructure needed to support them,” said Curio CEO Ed McGinnis. “This collaboration brings together leaders in fuel recycling, fuel development, and advanced reactor deployment to evaluate innovative pathways that could strengthen domestic and international energy security, enhance fuel supply resilience, and unlock greater value from existing nuclear materials. By connecting these critical elements of the nuclear value chain, we are helping lay the foundation for a future of clean, sustainable energy.”
Tony Robinson, president and CEO of Framatome Inc, added: “Advancing the next generation of nuclear energy demands bold innovation and strong alignment across the entire fuel cycle. At Framatome, we are committed to working with partners who share that vision and support efforts to strengthen America’s nuclear infrastructure. This collaboration represents the kind of forward-looking, integrated approach needed to unlock new fuel technologies, and ensure the US remains at the forefront of safe, reliable, carbon-free nuclear power.”
“With the most near-term deployable SMR (small modular reactor) technology, NuScale has long recognised that the nuclear industry requires a strong, reliable, sustainable frontend and backend fuel supply to meet increasing demand,” said John Hopkins, President and CEO of NuScale Power. “We are pleased to work alongside our partners Curio and Framatome to leverage our complementary capabilities, including NuScale’s position as the only SMR to have received US Nuclear Regulatory Commission design approval, to help advance a more resilient and integrated nuclear fuel cycle for off-takers in the United States and internationally.”
Curio’s proprietary NuCycle technology is designed to recycle used nuclear fuel and recover valuable materials that can be utilised in future nuclear energy applications. By dramatically reducing residual waste volumes by up to 97% while recovering strategic nuclear materials, NuCycle offers a pathway toward a more sustainable, secure, and economically productive nuclear fuel cycle.
In February this year, the US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded more than USD19 million to five US companies to research and develop recycling technologies for used nuclear fuel. Curio is to receive funding to support the development of its proprietary NuCycle technology. The funding will support a collaborative effort between Curio and key partners including Idaho National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and several other technical organisations to optimise for scale-up and commercialisation of NuCycle. The primary objective of the collaboration is to develop detailed engineering designs and specifications for NuCycle’s core processes and prepare for a pilot-scale demonstration.
Reprocessing in the USA
In March 2022, the DOE launched the Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy (CURIE) programme, which is under the auspices of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), with the aim of enabling commercially viable reprocessing of used nuclear fuel from the current US light-water reactor fleet by resolving key gaps and barriers in reprocessing technologies, process monitoring, and facility design. Later that year, twelve projects were selected to receive USD38 million of funding.
Reprocessing of used fuel from commercial reactors has been prohibited in the USA since 1977, with all used fuel being treated as high-level waste. However, the nation has more than 250 plant-years of reprocessing operational experience, mostly from reprocessing oxide fuels at government-operated defence plants as part of its military programme. A civil reprocessing plant at West Valley, New York, operated successfully from 1966-1972: a second one at Morris, Illinois, failed to work successfully and was declared inoperable in 1974. A third civil reprocessing plant was built at Barnwell, South Carolina but was not commissioned due to the changed government policy.
