The Department of Energy will announce Wednesday an initiative aimed at building out the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain as interest in the emissions-free power source grows.
The DOE will ask states to express interest in hosting “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses,” which would support activities across the nuclear fuel lifecycle – including recycling used fuel.
Only about 5% of the value of the energy is used by a reactor, meaning the used fuel has the potential to be recycled. At present there is no commercial-scale uranium recycling in the U.S. The DOE said this would also redirect spent uranium from ultimately being sent to Yucca Mountain.
Ultimately, one of the proposed campuses could house the entire fuel cycle from enrichment all the way to recycling. The sites could also potentially have advanced reactors, power generation and co-located data centers, since it’s easier to do everything under one roof rather than having to transport fuel.
Given the surge in interest for nuclear power – driven in part by the enormous power needs of hyperscalers – the department said one of these campuses could attract $50 billion in capital investment from the private sector.
