The race to build a resilient U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain gained speed Tuesday.
Two nuclear companies — Tennessee startup Standard Nuclear and French nuclear giant Framatome — announced a joint venture to commercially produce tristructural isotropic fuel by 2027. The venture plans to produce two metric tons of so-called TRISO annually, a dramatic increase from today’s lab-scale output.
The announcement came as the Department of Energy added four new companies to its Reactor Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aims to produce the fuel needed to test advanced nuclear reactors. Standard was the first company to join the program in August; it will now be joined by X-energy, Oklo, Valar Atomics and Terrestrial Energy.
The developments come as the Trump administration prioritizes nuclear energy, with an emphasis on a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors. The U.S. nuclear power industry is hoping for a revival as data centers and artificial intelligence drive rising energy demand; globally, nuclear power could grow more than 50 percent over the next 15 years, according to an estimate from Goldman Sachs.
