SHINE Technologies is participating as a subcontractor in two federally funded projects aimed at improving aspects of nuclear fuel recycling.
The Janesville nuclear technology company yesterday rolled out details for both projects, which are getting funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E program.
One project, spearheaded by Case Western Reserve University and involving the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, is focused on developing chemical processing equipment for use in repurposing spent nuclear fuel.
The Argonne lab is working on machines called PaCERS — which stands for Packed Centrifugal Equipment for Radiochemical Separation — that can spin fast enough to boost the efficiency of the chemical separation process.
SHINE will apply this technology to multiple processes, including those that separate the radioisotopes strontium-90 and americium-241 for applications in medicine, manufacturing and energy. The company says this approach “multiple stages of nuclear fuel recycling more economical,” noting spent nuclear fuel still contains 90% of its energy potential as well as other valuable materials for recycling.
Ross Radel, the company’s chief technology officer, says the project is part of a broader effort by SHINE to make nuclear energy effectively renewable.
“We already separate radioactive materials to produce medical isotopes today, and we’re applying that same expertise to help push PaCERS toward practical use,” Radel said in the announcement.
Meanwhile, SHINE yesterday also announced its working as a subcontractor for GE Vernova on a separate project applying AI to nuclear fuel recycling. By using the technology to “optimize” tracking of spent nuclear fuel and measurement at recycling sites, partners in the effort aim to make them “more cost-effective” with less downtime, according to Radel.
Through the second project, called Monochromatic Assays Yielding Enhanced Reliability, or MAYER, the company is working on how to improve the process of tracking the flow of material through this process. The current status quo involves “redundant” instrumentation as well as repeated manual sampling and facility shutdowns for inventory checks, according to a release.
By taking facility data and using it to create a “virtual digital twin,” SHINE says it can improve security measures while cutting operating costs.
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