1
Country: USA | Funding: $1.4B
Oklo is building fast nuclear reactors that can convert used nuclear fuel into clean energy. The startup is building US-first privately funded nuclear fuel recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It will recycle used nuclear fuel from today’s reactor fleet and turn it into new fuel for tomorrow’s fast reactors. It's intended to shorten the time needed to store the fuel from tens of thousands of years to a few hundred and recover valuable materials that still contain enormous energy potential or can be used to develop critical radioisotopes for medical, industrial, research, and defense applications.
Oklo is building fast nuclear reactors that can convert used nuclear fuel into clean energy. The startup is building US-first privately funded nuclear fuel recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It will recycle used nuclear fuel from today’s reactor fleet and turn it into new fuel for tomorrow’s fast reactors. It's intended to shorten the time needed to store the fuel from tens of thousands of years to a few hundred and recover valuable materials that still contain enormous energy potential or can be used to develop critical radioisotopes for medical, industrial, research, and defense applications.
2
Country: USA | Funding: $98.5M
Zeno is developing next-generation radioisotope power systems that generate carbon-free, resilient power for decades. It also has an Air Force contract to build a satellite powered by nuclear waste
Zeno is developing next-generation radioisotope power systems that generate carbon-free, resilient power for decades. It also has an Air Force contract to build a satellite powered by nuclear waste
3
Country: USA | Funding: $1B
SHINE is developing technology to recycle used nuclear fuel from commercial fission reactors. It follows a four-step process: dissolving uranium from waste, irradiating it with a plasma beam, separating valuable isotopes, and recycling remaining uranium and plutonium back into reactors. This approach transforms highly radioactive material with millennia-long decay times into material with half-lives measured in years, decades, or centuries. The company has agreement with reactor fuel startup Standard Nuclear to sell fuel-grade material recovered from recycling.
SHINE is developing technology to recycle used nuclear fuel from commercial fission reactors. It follows a four-step process: dissolving uranium from waste, irradiating it with a plasma beam, separating valuable isotopes, and recycling remaining uranium and plutonium back into reactors. This approach transforms highly radioactive material with millennia-long decay times into material with half-lives measured in years, decades, or centuries. The company has agreement with reactor fuel startup Standard Nuclear to sell fuel-grade material recovered from recycling.
4
Country: France | Funding: $765.7M
Newcleo is developing the latest generation of nuclear reactors providing a path to combatting both climate change and existing nuclear waste. It is working on so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and wants to use so-called MOX technology to make it possible to recycle spent uranium from conventional nuclear power plants.
Newcleo is developing the latest generation of nuclear reactors providing a path to combatting both climate change and existing nuclear waste. It is working on so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and wants to use so-called MOX technology to make it possible to recycle spent uranium from conventional nuclear power plants.
5
Country: USA | Funding: $55.6M
Innovative startup with an equitable and environmentally protective solution for nuclear waste and defense waste storage or disposal
Innovative startup with an equitable and environmentally protective solution for nuclear waste and defense waste storage or disposal
6
Country: Netherlands | Funding: €42.5M
Molten salt reactor, recycling longlived elements from nuclear waste in collaboration with Orano
Molten salt reactor, recycling longlived elements from nuclear waste in collaboration with Orano
7
Country: Switzerland | Funding: $43.5M
Transmutex develops designs and software for an accelerator-powered technology that turns existing nuclear waste into clean energy and industrial applications. The technology is offered to nuclear power plant operators and includes full support from procurement to maintenance. The main idea is mixing thorium with nuclear waste and transforming it into energy (heat or as electricity) and more short-lived elements that will decay within 300 years - less time than it takes for a plastic bottle or a cigarette butt to degrade in the ocean. The solution drastically reduces the volume and radiotoxicity of long-lived nuclear waste.
Transmutex develops designs and software for an accelerator-powered technology that turns existing nuclear waste into clean energy and industrial applications. The technology is offered to nuclear power plant operators and includes full support from procurement to maintenance. The main idea is mixing thorium with nuclear waste and transforming it into energy (heat or as electricity) and more short-lived elements that will decay within 300 years - less time than it takes for a plastic bottle or a cigarette butt to degrade in the ocean. The solution drastically reduces the volume and radiotoxicity of long-lived nuclear waste.
8
Country: Japan | Funding: ¥6.1B
Ookuma Diamond Device is an advanced materials technology company that offers research and development of diamond semiconductors.
Ookuma Diamond Device is an advanced materials technology company that offers research and development of diamond semiconductors.
9
Country: USA | Funding: $12.6M
Curio wants to solve the nuclear waste problem while also making valuable products out of the used fuel, including fuel for next generation reactors and isotopes valuable for space batteries and medical processes
Curio wants to solve the nuclear waste problem while also making valuable products out of the used fuel, including fuel for next generation reactors and isotopes valuable for space batteries and medical processes
10
Country: USA | Funding: $12M
Project Omega converts nuclear waste into betavoltaic batteries. The technology uses the same basic idea as solar photovoltaic cells, but with electrons from radiation instead of photons from the sun. The battery exploits a phenomenon known as betavoltaics, in which a semiconductor absorbs high-energy electrons, called β particles, that are ejected from decaying atomic nuclei. Energy from the β particles excites electrons in the semiconductor’s valence band into its conduction band, where a voltage can then carry the electrons off through a circuit to do useful work. The company has already created working prototype small battery running on strontium-90 decay that could power microprocessors in remote locations for years on end
Project Omega converts nuclear waste into betavoltaic batteries. The technology uses the same basic idea as solar photovoltaic cells, but with electrons from radiation instead of photons from the sun. The battery exploits a phenomenon known as betavoltaics, in which a semiconductor absorbs high-energy electrons, called β particles, that are ejected from decaying atomic nuclei. Energy from the β particles excites electrons in the semiconductor’s valence band into its conduction band, where a voltage can then carry the electrons off through a circuit to do useful work. The company has already created working prototype small battery running on strontium-90 decay that could power microprocessors in remote locations for years on end
11
Country: USA | Funding: $5.5M
Transatomic Power is a nuclear reactor design company offering a waste-annihilating molten salt reactor.
Transatomic Power is a nuclear reactor design company offering a waste-annihilating molten salt reactor.
12
Country: USA | Funding: $2.5M
FANCO was founded by a team of nuclear energy veterans led by Bill Stokes, who have implemented some of the most advanced nuclear projects in US history. Their expertise is the foundation of FANCO and sets it apart from startups chasing unproven ideas. Their 240 MW EAGL-1 reactor is a modular and reliable reactor based on proven low-pressure fast reactor technology, optimized for modern energy needs. It uses safe and environmentally friendly lead-bismuth coolant and operates in the fast neutron spectrum, extracting more energy from fuel and reducing waste for a cleaner future. The EAGL-1's optimized design eliminates the need for expensive intermediate systems and containment vessels, reduces mechanical complexity, and improves overall system reliability. That means the potential for faster deployment and dramatically lower front-end fuel cycle costs. FANCO is building its own Nuclear Plant Powered by Its Own Waste in Indiana.
FANCO was founded by a team of nuclear energy veterans led by Bill Stokes, who have implemented some of the most advanced nuclear projects in US history. Their expertise is the foundation of FANCO and sets it apart from startups chasing unproven ideas. Their 240 MW EAGL-1 reactor is a modular and reliable reactor based on proven low-pressure fast reactor technology, optimized for modern energy needs. It uses safe and environmentally friendly lead-bismuth coolant and operates in the fast neutron spectrum, extracting more energy from fuel and reducing waste for a cleaner future. The EAGL-1's optimized design eliminates the need for expensive intermediate systems and containment vessels, reduces mechanical complexity, and improves overall system reliability. That means the potential for faster deployment and dramatically lower front-end fuel cycle costs. FANCO is building its own Nuclear Plant Powered by Its Own Waste in Indiana.
13
Country: USA | Funding: $113.5K
Alpha Nur is closing the loop on how nuclear fuel is used. At the intersection of sustainability and national security, we stand as a nexus for next-gen nuclear development.
Alpha Nur is closing the loop on how nuclear fuel is used. At the intersection of sustainability and national security, we stand as a nexus for next-gen nuclear development.
