New York-based nuclear technology company BLSK Energy announced on May 18 that it had signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois to commercialize the method.

Pyroprocessing (or pyrochemical processing) is a high-temperature metallurgical process that could enable the reuse of nuclear fuel. When used with fast reactors, it could extract up to 100 times more energy from uranium.

The company plans to launch a pilot recycling facility by 2034 that would convert nuclear waste into material suitable for advanced fast reactors. "The path ahead is ambitious but achievable," Bruce Landrey, BLSK Energy's managing director and co-founder, said.

Recycling Nuclear Waste

The US has accumulated about 95,000 tonnes (104,000 US tons) of used nuclear fuel. They are currently stored at over 75 locations across the country. However, spent nuclear fuel is radioactive and thermally hot when removed from a reactor.