BLSK Energy to use technique pioneered by Argonne national Laboratory
New York-based BLSK Energy has emerged from stealth mode following the signing of an agreement with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to develop a pilot facility that produces fuel for advanced fast nuclear reactors by recycling the used fuel from existing nuclear power plants.
The company aims to bring the facility into operation by 2034 to support the supply chain for next-generation nuclear power systems.
The cooperative research and development agreement provides BLSK with exclusive access to the intellectual property behind pyrochemical processing, or pyroprocessing, the technology it will use for recycling nuclear fuel. It also provides access to ANL’s established technical team of nuclear reprocessing scientists, engineers and laboratory facilities.
ANL pioneered the development of pyroprocessing, a high-temperature method of recycling reactor waste into fuel.
According to ANL, when used in conjunction with nuclear fast reactors, pyroprocessing would allow 100 times more of the energy in uranium ore to be used to produce electricity compared to current commercial reactors. It would ensure almost inexhaustible supplies of low-cost uranium resources, minimise the risk that spent fuel would be used for weapons production by recycling the uranium and transuranics to fast reactors for energy production, and it would markedly reduce both the amount of waste and the time it must be isolated – from approximately 300,000 to approximately 300 years – by recycling all actinides.
ANL has said that through the development and application of advanced technologies for recycling spent nuclear fuel, nuclear power could become truly sustainable and essentially inexhaustible.
BLSK, formed in early 2025, said the pilot facility would perfect an already proven process and prepare for commercial-scale operations.
“The path ahead is ambitious but achievable,” said Bruce Landrey, the company’s managing director and co-founder. “It also is absolutely necessary to address both the past and the future of the use of nuclear energy as a source of clean, safe electricity for our communities.”
The US has accumulated an estimated 95,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel at more than 75 sites around the country. Plans for permanent disposal have been stalled for decades. Meanwhile, both the availability and the cost of the fuel for advanced reactors are becoming bottlenecks in their development.
“BLSK has the rare opportunity to address the two critical issues facing nuclear power; answering the question, ‘what about the waste?’ while delivering a reliable cost-effective supply of fuel for advanced reactors,” said Landrey.
