SHINE, a fusion energy company with a platform expanding into nuclear fuel recycling, and newcleo, a developer of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel, today announced an agreement to collaborate on advancing innovative technologies for the recycling of used nuclear fuel.

The Companies will assess how SHINE could supply newcleo with materials from the used nuclear fuel of traditional reactors to manufacture MOX fuel, and how SHINE could recycle spent fuel from newcleo's reactors. The Companies also intend to jointly pursue U.S. federal funding opportunities and explore additional opportunities for collaboration across both the U.S. and European Union, where spent fuel stockpiles represent a growing strategic priority.

The agreement builds on the complementary nature of the companies' respective technology platforms.

SHINE is developing nuclear fuel reprocessing technologies aimed at enabling the efficient and proliferation-resistant extraction of uranium and plutonium from existing used nuclear fuel inventories, such as the 90,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel held in the U.S. To unlock that value, SHINE is targeting a commercial pilot facility capable of processing 100 metric tons of used nuclear fuel per year in the early 2030s.

newcleo, in turn, is advancing MOX fuel manufacturing capabilities that can convert these recovered materials into new fuel suitable for use in advanced reactor systems, including its lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) facilities.

newcleo's and SHINE's closed fuel cycle approach aims to significantly reduce the volume and radioactivity levels of used nuclear fuel, in turn reducing the cost of long-term storage of nuclear liabilities.

"Closing the fuel cycle will require deep, industry-wide collaboration that brings together expertise from across the nuclear fuel supply chain. Today marks an important step in that direction, combining SHINE's recycling capabilities with newcleo's advanced fuel manufacturing and reactor technologies," said Stefano Buono, founder and CEO of newcleo.

"Recycling spent nuclear fuel solves two problems at once. It addresses decades of accumulated waste and removes the fuel supply constraint on expanding the reactor fleet. Working with newcleo connects our capabilities directly to reactors designed to run on recycled fuel. That closed fuel cycle effectively makes nuclear energy renewable and fundamentally changes its economics," said Greg Piefer, founder and CEO of SHINE.

The agreement comes as governments and industry on both sides of the Atlantic sharpen their focus on closing the nuclear fuel cycle to draw down decades of accumulated used fuel and secure domestic supplies of fissile material for the next generation of reactors. SHINE and newcleo plan to begin technical scoping this year, with joint federal funding proposals to follow.