(The Center Square) − A growing number of energy companies are looking to nuclear recycling as a way to address waste management concerns while strengthening domestic fuel supply.
Ed McGinnis, the former assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy told the Joint Natural Resources and & Environment committee that by recycling spent nuclear fuel, the United States can dramatically reduce waste, increase energy security, and create high-paying jobs.
McGinnis is also the CEO of Curio, a nuclear technology firm, and has partnered with major U.S. utilities to explore the feasibility of recycling the massive stockpile of spent nuclear fuel currently sitting in storage.
According to McGinnis, this process could reduce waste volumes to just 3% to 4% of the original material while extracting valuable resources.
Curio hopes to help revive America’s nuclear energy capacity with its recycling process. By reprocessing spent uranium fuel, the company can extract plutonium, which McGinnis touts as a superior energy source due to its higher power density and reduced weight requirements.
“You can get a reactor that’s a third the size of a uranium-based reactor,” McGinnis said, adding that without recycling, plutonium remains locked within spent fuel and inaccessible for future energy production.
A major impediment to nuclear cost-effectiveness is the current waste model. Nuclear waste is stored onsite and is managed by utilities, like Entergy, and doesn’t leave any room for recycling and can be a ratepayer burden.
U.S. nuclear power plants store their spent fuel by first cooling it in pools for several years before transferring it to reinforced concrete dry casks. These casks, sitting on storage pads near reactors, were meant to be temporary until the federal government retrieved the waste — a process that was supposed to start in 1997 but never materialized.
“That is what triggered the lawsuits by utilities to recoup taxpayers’ money,” McGinnis said.
Jody Montelaro, Entergy’s vice president of public affairs, said that the U.S. Department of Energy is currently reimbursing Entergy for the storage costs.
Curio aims to change the current process by recycling spent fuel, extracting valuable materials, and reducing waste to just 3% to 4% of its original volume, which McGinnis says the federal government could handle much easier.
While McGinnis acknowledged that federal regulations remain a challenge, he added that there is “a lane to go forward” and are already working with utilities.
The main hurdles are state and local approvals, as well as public communication to ensure communities understand the benefits.
“This is not your grandfather’s reactor,” McGinnis said. “These are state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly, and economically robust solutions.”
Curio’s proposed facilities, expected to be operational within five to seven years, are projected to generate over 3,000 jobs, the majority of which will be trade-based positions with salaries ranging from $80,000 to $140,000 per year.
“These are generational jobs,” McGinnis emphasized.
The facility is estimated to generate more than $400 million annually in direct tax revenue, further contributing to local economies. Notably, Curio has pledged not to seek Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, a tax exemption offered to most large-scale industrial projects.
Beyond job creation and waste reduction, McGinnis highlights Curio’s partnerships with four national laboratories and industry leaders such as Orano, the world’s largest nuclear recycler.
Orano, which operates major recycling facilities in France, has designated Curio as its lead recycling partner in the U.S.
The U.S. is largely reliant on foreign-supplied nuclear fuel, with major sources including Russia, Canada and Kazakhstan, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
EIA notes that the U.S. has nuclear fuel production capacity insufficient for domestic needs, with domestic mining now accounting for about 5% of the fuel used in U.S. reactors.
Louisiana, home to one of the nation’s largest and oldest nuclear fleets, stands to benefit significantly from Curio’s model. The state’s existing infrastructure, transportation corridors, and workforce make it a strong candidate for future nuclear investment.
