Approximately $7 million in funding under the HORNIG program supports particle fuel for high-temperature gas reactors made from recycled nuclear materials
Standard Nuclear, Inc. (NYSE: STDN) ("Standard Nuclear" or the "Company"), a reactor-agnostic producer of TRISO nuclear fuel and the only U.S. company with industrial-scale TRISO fuel fabrication facilities, today announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy's ("DOE") Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ("ARPA-E") to receive approximately $7 million in funding under the High-performance Optimized Recycled Nuclear Isotopes for Gen IV reactors ("HORNIG") program.
The funding would be used for the Mixed Oxycarbide ("MCO") TRISO project, which aims to develop advanced reactor fuel using recycled transuranic and uranium feedstocks. Through this initiative, Standard Nuclear will engineer advanced fabrication methods to produce tristructural isotropic ("TRISO") particle fuel incorporating recycled transuranics, including plutonium. By establishing an alternative to high-assay low-enriched uranium ("HALEU"), this work aims to diversify the fissile feedstock supply chain for existing and next-generation reactors while actively reducing commercial spent fuel stockpiles. Standard Nuclear leads this project in partnership with SHINE Technologies, a fusion technology company.
“Recycled transuranic material still holds a great deal of usable energy, and TRISO is a fuel form well suited to harness it,” said Kurt Terrani, President and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Nuclear. “With ARPA-E's support, we will work to develop the scalable fabrication methods to turn this valuable feedstock into particle fuel, giving developers of advanced or existing reactors a domestic source of fuel made from recycled feedstock.”
ARPA-E selected eight projects to receive up to a combined $50 million through HORNIG to advance next-generation nuclear fuels. The selection builds on Standard Nuclear's work to convert transuranic and plutonium-bearing materials into fuel, including the Company’s June 2026 selection by the DOE to enter advanced negotiations in its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program.
About Standard Nuclear
Standard Nuclear’s mission is to reliably deliver the essential building blocks of nuclear power at scale — enabling cost-effective, safe, and secure energy for the world. Standard Nuclear is focused on the large-scale production of advanced nuclear fuel and radioisotope power systems. It is the nation’s only independent manufacturer of TRISO fuel — a robust, high-performance fuel essential to advanced nuclear reactors for terrestrial, national security, and space applications. Standard Nuclear offers a reactor-agnostic supply of advanced fuels to the next-generation nuclear industry and delivers dependable radioisotope power solutions to the space and defense sectors. Through these efforts, it is helping to eliminate U.S. reliance on geopolitical adversaries for these strategically vital technologies. For more information, visit: https://www.standardnuclear.com.
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