The Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now (NEWTON) program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel to reduce the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities.
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
July 7, 2026
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The Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now (NEWTON) program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel to reduce the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities. Specifically, the projects focus on three technical categories:
- (A) generating and accelerating particle beams that can initiate transmutation reactions,
- (B) modeling, designing, and fabricating target materials for transmutation of used nuclear fuel, incorporating transmutable materials into a target, and processing transmuted material for waste or isolation, and
- (C) integrating the technologies developed in Categories A and B into a techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment of a transmutation facility and maintaining a materials and components database for transmutation facilities.
If successful, NEWTON projects would enable the economic viability of transmutation at a scale that will significantly reduce the mass, volume, activity, and effective half-life of the existing stockpile of commercial used nuclear fuel to be disposed of in a geological repository, improving safety, and reducing energy-related emissions, thereby increasing U.S. energy security.