Companies Curio Energy, and Sargent & Lundy, have partnered up to begin the engineering and facility design process for Curio’s NuCycle nuclear fuel recycling facility.
Washington, D.C.-based fuel recycling company Curio said in a Tuesday press release the engineering work done with Sargent and Lundy would create the engineering foundational basis needed to support its licensing efforts with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Sargent & Lundy’s teams will work to transform Curio’s NuCycle proprietary process systems into a full industrial facility, Curio said. The process building is intended to be designed “to ensure the plant architecture supports NuCycle technology’s operational readiness, safety, maintainability, and scalable infrastructure needed for future deployment,” the company said.
Last month, Curio submitted a letter of intent with NRC to start the pre-application process, which will lead to the eventual construction permit submission. This design phase will include site evaluation and the conceptual design of the process building, Curio said.
Curio has been moving forward with plans to design and build out a fuel recycling facility after the company completed laboratory-scale demonstration tests for its NuCycle technology in September 2025. It worked with four of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratories to complete these tests.
Additionally, Curio was one of five companies awarded by DOE to research and develop fuel recycling technology in February.
“As we approach commercialization of our NuCycle technology, we are achieving multiple milestones at a rapid pace,” Edward McGinnis, Curio president and CEO, said in the release. “We have proven the science behind NuCycle. Now, with Sargent & Lundy’s help, we will design the plant that will recycle used nuclear fuel at scale, strengthening U.S. energy security, and closing the domestic fuel cycle.”