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NSI argues for direct disposal as quickest path to nuclear scaling
The Nuclear Scaling Initiative, a collaborative effort launched in 2024 to spur new nuclear energy development, announced a new campaign promoting the direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel as the safest, most secure, and least expensive pathway for managing U.S. nuclear waste.
The campaign, called Scale What Works, is focused on rapidly expanding American nuclear energy capacity with a nuclear fuel management approach that prioritizes disposal over reprocessing or recycling. According to the NSI, direct disposal will enable rapid reactor deployment, minimize environmental and security risks, and avoid the financial pitfalls of reprocessing.
“Making smart fuel management choices today—that acknowledge that reprocessing technologies today are not economically viable and pose security and waste management risks—can drive grid reliability, innovation, and economic and national security for the United States and beyond,” said NSI executive director Steve Comello.
Reprocessing vs. recycling: The launch of the Scale What Works campaign follows a recent NSI report, Fuel Cycle Strategy for a Secure and Scalable Nuclear Energy Future, which highlights the costs and risks of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
The NSI distinguishes between reprocessing, in which materials—including plutonium, uranium, and other elements—are separated from spent fuel for potential reuse, and recycling, in which the separated materials are used to produce new reactor fuel.
According to the NSI, countries that have pursued reprocessing have found it yields minimal material suitable for reuse and creates additional waste streams that complicate disposal.
Reprocessing, the NSI said, “is costly, complex, and time-intensive, increasing energy prices for consumers and diverting resources from readily deployable technologies.” It also poses security risks by introducing weapons-usable plutonium into the fuel cycle, the group added.
About the NSI: A partnership among three independent nonprofits—the Clean Air Task Force, the Energy Futures Initiatives Foundation, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative—the NSI was founded through philanthropic funding from Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia and Isabella Boemeke, a social media influencer focused on the promotion of nuclear technology.
The group’s mission is to “build a new nuclear energy ecosystem that can quickly and economically scale to 50+ gigawatts of safe and secure nuclear energy globally per year by the 2030s.”
The NSI recently received a $3.5 million philanthropic commitment from the Bezos Earth Fund to support the creation of an orderbook for new nuclear reactor builds in the United States.
Quotables: “Scale What Works means cutting distractions and doubling down on proven technologies,” said former U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Laura Holgate. “For America to rebuild its reputation as a global nuclear energy pioneer, we need to move fast and stay focused on direct disposal.”
Former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp added, “Spent fuel management is a matter where it makes more sense to take the proven path than revisit high-risk technologies like reprocessing that have a history of stalling progress.”
Holgate and Heitkamp are both members of the NSI’s global advisory board.
