The U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E is awarding up to $50 million to eight HORNIG projects to develop advanced reactor fuels from recovered transuranic materials. The program’s stated aim is to reduce fuel qualification timelines to less than seven years, a target that matters as much as the fuel chemistry itself.

Standard Nuclear’s MCO TRISO award

Standard Nuclear was awarded $6,999,984 for the Mixed Oxycarbide, or MCO, TRISO project. The project targets high-temperature gas reactors using recycled transuranic and uranium feedstock. TRISO fuel is a coated-particle design that can contain fission products under high temperature, and MCO refers to the fuel kernel chemistry.

ARPA-E is awarding up to $50 million to eight HORNIG projects to develop advanced reactor fuels from recovered transuranic materials, with the aim of reducing fuel qualification timelines to less than seven years.

A broader fuel-fabrication push

Standard Nuclear has been assembling the pieces of a domestic fuel business. It acquired Ultra Safe Nuclear’s assets after bankruptcy, had its fuel fabrication plans selected for fast-tracking through DOE’s Fuel Line Pilot Program in 2025, and has been allocated HALEU by DOE. The company is building two TRISO production facilities in Idaho and Tennessee, which are progressing through DOE authorization.

The ARPA-E award does not mean the MCO TRISO fuel is qualified. Qualification is the expensive, time-consuming process of proving fuel performance and manufacturing consistency to regulators and customers. DOE’s seven-year goal is ambitious for a first-of-a-kind fuel, but it reflects a recognition that advanced reactors cannot deploy without a fuel supply that is certified, not just demonstrated.

Why HALEU matters to TRISO

Many TRISO designs use HALEU kernels, and DOE’s allocation of HALEU to Standard Nuclear links the enrichment buildout to fuel fabrication. The company’s two plants in Idaho and Tennessee would need both HALEU feedstock and authorization. ARPA-E’s funding is focused on the front end of that chain: proving that recovered transuranic and uranium feedstock can be turned into a qualified advanced reactor fuel. If the seven-year target holds, it would compress a timeline that has historically stretched much longer.

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