Background
On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established a pilot program for reactor construction and operation on sites located outside of the national laboratories in accordance with Executive Order 14301 to reform and streamline national laboratory processes for reactor testing at the Department. The United States currently lacks sufficient domestic nuclear fuel resource capacity for this program and DOE is relying on the same authority to develop or build fuel production lines to increase production capacity under Executive Order 14299 to deploy advanced nuclear reactor technologies for national security.
Program Overview
The Fuel Line Pilot Program supports the Reactor Pilot Program and establishes a domestic nuclear fuel supply chain for testing new reactors. The program leverages the DOE authorization process to build and operate nuclear fuel production lines to serve for research, development, and demonstration purposes and to provide a fast-tracked approach to commercial licensing.
Selections
- Standard Nuclear (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) - To expand, build, and operate advanced fuel fabrication facilities for TRISO fuels in both Tennessee and Idaho.
- Oklo Inc. (Santa Clara, California) - To build and operate three fuel fabrication facilities to support their Aurora and Pluto reactors, and possibly other fast reactors.
- Terrestrial Energy Inc. (Charlotte, North Carolina) - To develop the Terrestrial Energy Fuel Line Assembly to demonstrate a fuel salt fabrication process in a phased approach.
- TRISO-X Inc. (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) - To build and operate an additional fuel fabrication laboratory facility to enable pilot-scale integration, training, and system validation to support the TX-1 commercial TRISO fuel fabrication facility.
- Valar Atomics Inc. (Hawthorne, California) - To support TRISO fuel fabrication for the Ward250 reactor deployment and potentially other high-temperature gas reactors.
Current Opportunities
Request for Application
DOE issued a Request for Application on July 15, 2025. The Department is seeking applications from qualified U.S. companies to build and operate nuclear fuel production lines using the DOE authorization process.
Initial applications closed on August 15, 2025, with subsequent applications allowed on a rolling basis.
Read the Fuel Line Pilot Program Request for Application.
Announcements
- Read the press release announcing conditional selection of Oklo Inc., Terrestrial Energy Inc., TRISO-X LLC, and Valar Atomics for the Fuel Line Pilot Program, published September 30, 2025.
- Read the press release announcing initial conditional selection of Standard Nuclear for the Fuel Line Pilot Program, published August 4, 2025.
- Read the press release announcing the Fuel Line Pilot Program, published July 16, 2025.
- Download the Request for Application, issued July 15, 2025.
Resources
- Executive Order 14301: Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy
- Executive Order 14299: Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security
- DOE Reactor Pilot Program project page
- All RFA questions should be directed to DOEReactorProgram@id.doe.gov