Curio to begin early talks with NRC on licensing NuCycle recycling facility

Washington, D.C.-based Curio announced yesterday that it has submitted a letter of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to establish a docket for preapplication engagement activities and ultimately the submittal and review of a license application to operate a spent nuclear fuel recycling production facility.

Once a docket is established, Curio will develop a license application to meet all applicable regulations for a nuclear fuel recycling facility under 10 CFR Part 70.

While a site for the facility has yet to be selected, Curio intends to recycle commercial spent fuel using its NuCycle voloxidation processing technology. In collaboration with Idaho, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories, it completed laboratory-scale demonstrations of the NuCycle process last fall. According to Curio, the process provides proliferation resistance by avoiding the production of a pure plutonium stream.

The plan: Using a modular operating concept, the NuCycle facility will be designed to process up to 4,000 metric tons-heavy metal (MTHM) of light water reactor spent fuel annually. The proprietary process will be used to produce Curio's transuranic TRUFuel while also recovering enrichable uranium hexafluoride and valuable isotopes. No enrichment or fuel fabrication activities are to take place in the facility.

According to the company, the facility will accommodate spent fuel feedstock ranging from low-enriched LWR fuel and HALEU to high-enriched Department of Energy-managed fuel. It will also include a spent fuel feedstock staging facility to allow for a controlled process for moving the fuel into the front end of the recycling process.

Ahead of a license application, Curio intends to begin submitting white papers and topical reports to the NRC in late 2026 or early 2027 to help agency technical review staff and leadership better understand the details on the NuCycle technology and overall facility operation.

Quote: "The initiation of this application process marks a key and decisive moment for Curio and our nation as we commercially deploy what will be the world's most advanced and capable used nuclear fuel recycling facility based on our game-changing NuCycle technology," said Ed McGinnis, president and CEO of Curio.