US DOE ARPA-E Awards Eight Grants Under HORNIG Programme for TRU Fuel Development

Programme Overview

The High-performance Optimised Recycled Nuclear Isotopes for Gen IV reactors (HORNIG) programme, administered by the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, has announced eight funded projects targeting the design, fabrication, and qualification of transuranic (TRU) fuels. The programme seeks to overcome technical and economic barriers that have historically limited TRU fuel use in commercial reactors, with a stated goal of compressing qualification timelines from decades to fewer than seven years. HORNIG builds on earlier ARPA-E nuclear energy initiatives, including the CURIE programme launched in 2022.

TRU fuels incorporate transuranic elements — radioactive isotopes with atomic numbers above uranium, including neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium — that are present in existing inventories of used nuclear fuel. The programme aims to convert these materials into fissile feedstocks suitable for advanced reactor designs.

Award Recipients and Project Scope

The eight awards span a range of fuel technologies and reactor types.

  • Westinghouse Electric Company: USD 7 million for its PowerBlock nuclear fuel technology, which combines new fuel architectures with advanced manufacturing to target 24-month fuel cycles at thermal power levels above 4,200 MW.
  • Standard Nuclear: USD 7 million for its Mixed Oxycarbide (MCO) TRISO project, developing TRISO particle fuel containing recycled transuranic and uranium feedstock for high-temperature gas reactors. The project is being conducted in partnership with SHINE Technologies.
  • Oklo Inc: USD 6.8 million for its FORGE project, developing transuranic-bearing U-TRU-Zr metallic fuel for sodium-cooled reactors, with a focus on fabrication methods and qualification-relevant data generation.
  • Exodys Energy Inc: USD 1.3 million to develop a common evaluation framework covering TRU fuel feedstocks, fuel-cycle costs, transportation, and deployment requirements across HORNIG fuel concepts.
  • Texas A&M University: USD 5.4 million to develop and test a liquid thorium-based nuclear fuel salt incorporating transuranics for molten salt reactors.
  • Oregon State University: USD 7 million for a low-temperature fabrication process to produce recycled transuranic-bearing nitride fuel for advanced reactors.
  • Sandia National Laboratories: USD 3.4 million to develop an uncertainty-aware decision support capability for scaling TRU fuel production across HORNIG concepts.
  • Idaho National Laboratory: USD 7 million for its IMPACT project, developing and testing a chloride fuel salt containing recycled transuranic elements for molten salt reactors.

Industry and Policy Context

Standard Nuclear stated that its MCO TRISO initiative is intended to establish an alternative to high-assay low-enriched uranium, with the aim of diversifying fissile feedstock supply chains for both existing and next-generation reactors while reducing commercial used fuel stockpiles.

Westinghouse Electric's PowerBlock technology is positioned to address utility demand for extended fuel cycles and improved plant economics, according to the company.

The awards reflect a broader federal policy emphasis on domestic nuclear fuel security and reducing dependence on foreign fuel suppliers, as articulated by US Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly in connection with the announcement.

Uganda and Russia Advance Nakasongola NPP Planning with New Intergovernmental Agreement

Agreement Signed at Moscow Summit

Uganda and Russia have formalised a new step in their nuclear cooperation, with an intergovernmental agreement signed on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow. The document was signed by Nikolai Spassky, Rosatom Deputy Director General and Director of International Activities, and Irene Batebe, Permanent Secretary of Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

The agreement provides for the creation of a dedicated working group tasked with studying the current state of Uganda's national nuclear infrastructure. Its stated aim is to identify joint steps leading to the negotiation of a contract for engineering surveys to select a site for the planned Nakasongola Nuclear Power Plant.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev noted that the work would be accompanied by training of national personnel and development of the competencies required for Uganda to advance its own nuclear programme.

Site Selection and Programme Scope

Uganda's nuclear planning has been under development for over a decade. The country's Atomic Energy Bill came into effect in 2008, and the Uganda Vision 2040 roadmap, launched in April 2013, incorporates nuclear power as part of the future national energy mix.

Eight potential sites were identified across the Buyende, Nakasongola, Kassanda, Kiruhura, and Lamwo Districts and subsequently ranked against defined criteria. The proposed site for the first nuclear power plant is in Kasaato Village, Kidera Subcounty, Buyende District, with alternative sites in Nakasongola and Kiruhura Districts.

According to the World Nuclear Association's 2026 World Nuclear Output Report, Uganda's full nuclear roadmap encompasses four plant locations: Buyende (six reactors of 1,400 MWe), Nakasongola (six reactors of 1,200 MWe), Kiruhura (four reactors of 1,200 MWe), and Lamwo (four reactors of 1,000 MWe). Buyende is designated as the first project.

Dual-Partner Development and Recent Procurement

In August 2023, President Museveni announced that Russia and South Korea had been selected to build two nuclear power plants in Uganda, with a combined stated capacity of 15 GWe and a longer-term goal of 24 GW of nuclear capacity by 2040.

Reflecting the South Korean involvement, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was contracted by Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to carry out a site evaluation at the proposed Buyende location. That contract represents a concrete procurement milestone ahead of the broader engineering survey phase now being pursued with Russia for the Nakasongola site.

The new Rosatom agreement moves the Nakasongola project toward a comparable stage, with the joint working group expected to define the pathway to formal engineering survey contracting.

From reactor design to manufacturing: NuScale Power and Doosan Enerbility take another step towards SMR deployment.

From reactor design to manufacturing: NuScale Power and Doosan Enerbility take another step towards SMR deployment. 🇺🇸🇰🇷

NuScale Power has signed a contract with South Korea's Doosan Enerbility to manufacture the Upper Reactor Coolant System for the NuScale Power Module.

Production will take place at Doosan's nuclear manufacturing facility in Changwon, South Korea.

The agreement marks an important step in a partnership that began in 2019, moving from manufacturing preparation and materials production to fabrication of the first reactor component of its kind under the programme.

Why does this matter for the nuclear supply chain?
SMRs are designed to benefit from factory manufacturing and repeatable production processes. But achieving that requires much more than a certified reactor design.

It requires qualified manufacturers, established production processes, specialised materials and a supply chain capable of delivering nuclear-grade components consistently.

The NuScale–Doosan partnership illustrates how much industrial preparation is needed before SMR technologies can be deployed at scale.

The next phase of nuclear innovation is not only about reactor technology. It's also about manufacturing capability.

At NucFinder, we're working to connect nuclear buyers with the suppliers and industrial expertise needed to support this transition.

Source: https://lnkd.in/eVeb-R3m