Curio lands $2.5M DOE grant to scale nuclear fuel recycling
What's the deal? Curio, a developer of advanced nuclear recycling technology, has been awarded $2.5 million in cost-shared funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, part of the US Department of Energy. Curio will add roughly $1 million of its own money to the effort.
Where's it going? The funds will validate two unit operations of Curio's NuCycle process — selective fluoride volatility and electrowinning — at lab scale using actual used nuclear fuel and transuranics. Work will take place at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Savannah River National Laboratory.
What's the endgame? Curio aims to build a scaled prototype laboratory and demonstration plant able to process up to 4,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel by the end of 2027. Alongside the research, it will develop regulatory compliance pathways and preliminary engineering designs.
Why now? The grant builds on a $5 million ARPA-EDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → award from 2023 that funded side-by-side lab demonstrations at three national labs. In September 2025, Curio said the project met key go/no-go milestones, and this round follows a February DOE grant naming it one of five US companies backing used-fuel research.
What they're saying: "This additional funding is further evidence that the DOE intends to embrace new technologies that will not only reduce the amount of nuclear waste in storage, but also capitalise on the untapped resources even beyond fuel," said chief executive officer Ed McGinnis.
The signal: At $2.5 million, this is a modest, targeted grant rather than a large capital raise — but it reflects growing federal support for recycling used nuclear fuel. With partnerships signed with NuScale, FramatomeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and others, plus the start of a Part 70 operating licence application, Curio is moving towards its 2027 deployment goal.
Read more: AP News
Image credit: NRCgov
