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Welcome back to Current Climate. In the portfolio of carbon-free energy options, nuclear power is compelling but hasn’t been as simple a choice as wind, solar, hydro and geothermal owing to unique challenges: a lengthy permitting process, safely managing radioactive waste and minimizing any risk of a meltdown.

Nuclear engineer Kurt Terrani, cofounder and CEO of Standard Nuclear, believes the key to making fission-generated electricity more appealing lies in eliminating a major risk associated with traditional reactor fuel: overheating when uranium-235 fuel rods aren’t kept sufficiently cool.

To do that, his Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based company, which went public in July, is making an advanced nuclear fuel called TRISO, in which the uranium is contained in a tiny, seed-like ceramic casing, rather than a fuel rod, doesn’t need constant water cooling and isn’t prone to overheating.

“When bad things happen to [traditional] reactors, they get hot and things can melt. We don't want radioactivity to get out, so historically they went ahead and built big concrete containment buildings,” he told Forbes. “And then at some point somebody was like, 'Hey, why don't we just make a fuel that doesn't melt, that doesn't release radioactivity, so we don't have to rely on the concrete and steel. Let's have a fuel that keeps the radioactivity within.’”

And while the 100 or so light-water nuclear plants operating around the U.S. would need modifications to use TRISO, the rise of startups developing a new generation of smaller reactors ensures robust demand for Standard’s fuel. Last week, it announced plans to supply at least a metric ton of the material, and as much as eight metric tons by 2035, to Antora Energy for use in small reactors. That........

© Forbes