The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy has awarded over $19 million to five U.S. companies to research and develop recycling technologies for used nuclear fuel. Flibe Energy is proud to be one of those companies.

Flibe Energy proposed to study the use of electrochemical methods to process used nuclear fuel (UNF, often called spent nuclear fuel, or SNF). FEI leads a team of university researchers and industry partners including Alabama A&M University (AAMU), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), the University of Michigan, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

A Path to Lower-Cost, Proliferation-Resistant Fuel

The team will investigate recycling techniques through a series of laboratory validation and optimization steps, followed by industry scaling demonstrations. The work begins with a cross-cutting focus on the efficacy of a novel decladding approach to used nuclear fuel in a fluoride molten salt.

Flibe Energy’s approach would lead to lower nuclear fuel costs and broader applicability to advanced reactor fuels, while mitigating the proliferation risks associated with handling used nuclear fuel. We are excited to get on contract and begin working with the team in the lab.

About Flibe Energy

Flibe Energy, headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, is developing innovative thorium-based solutions for a sustainable energy future. Our Lithium Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) technology offers significant advantages over conventional nuclear power: inherent safety features, minimal waste production, and efficient resource utilization. Flibe Energy is committed to creating clean, reliable, and affordable energy solutions for future generations.

For more information about Flibe Energy and our technologies, visit flibe.com/technology.