Research and development projects have been and will continue to be carried out by national laboratories, universities, industry and international collaborators’ laboratories under the AFCI Program. Building on previous research accomplishments, AFCI (pdf) will continue to focus on developing new technologies that would support a closed nuclear fuel cycle in the U.S.

These technologies encompass used fuel treatment, advanced fuels and transmutation for application to current operating commercial reactors and next-generation reactors. DOE is exploring advanced fuel cycle technologies that offer improvements in sustainability, economics and proliferation resistance over today’s technologies.