Standard Nuclear is manufacturing TRISO fuel, a decades-old technology from Oak Ridge, for small modular reactors. The fuel uses uranium kernels wrapped in carbon and ceramic layers that contain radiation and make reactors safer. As SMR startups scale up, Standard aims to become the primary supplier for America's nuclear comeback.
Standard Nuclear is building off decades of research done at Oak Ridge National Lab into something called TRISO fuel.
The name TRISO stands for Tri-Structural Isotropic, which is a central fuel kernel. You take that kernel and then you apply coating layers to it.
These are tiny fuel particles that surround uranium with layers of carbon and ceramic materials. The casing acts like a containment system for each particle.
Completely hermetically sealed, so none of the fission gases are getting out. And it's extremely effective, extremely robust.
The pitch is that TRISO is very safe and ideal for a new class of small nuclear reactors being built by a handful of startups. These so-called small modular reactors are all the rage, and they can, in theory, be placed anywhere extra energy is needed. Standard is trying to become the main TRISO fuel supplier for these reactors and to benefit from a US nuclear revival.
We're seeing the wave of new reactors that use this type of fuel coming at us. Most startup companies that are developing small reactors in the US now are using this type of fuel. Right. 'Cause it's inherently safe.
A lot of this process revolves around refining the particles to be the perfect composition and size. Standard puts them through one stage after another, tests their chemistry, and sorts them.
So the first step of the process is where you take a uranium—
