DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded tens of millions to commercial vendors to develop recycling technologies, built on reprocessing methods the agency’s labs pioneered decades ago. But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine muddying the future supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (Haleu) to DOE’s advanced reactor projects, the agency sees even more reason for promoting these technologies, not only for reducing the nation's growing spent nuclear fuel inventory but for producing fuel for fast reactors. The recycling methods, however, not unlike the reactors they are being developed to serve, are still in very early stages, facing key regulatory and technical challenges.
