The Numbers
Less than half the cost of the alternative. Made from material that's already paid for.
Less Than Half the Cost of the Alternative. Made From Material That's Already Paid For.
| Metric | HALEU | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro) |
|---|---|---|
| Metric: Fuel cost per kg. | HALEU: $25,000+. | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): $10,000 (pilot) → $5,000 (commercial). |
| Metric: Feedstock. | HALEU: Freshly mined & enriched uranium. | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): Used nuclear fuel (already in storage). |
| Metric: Enrichment required. | HALEU: Yes (19.75% U-235). | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): No. |
| Metric: Foreign supply dependency. | HALEU: Roughly 95% imported enriched uranium; more than one-third historically from Russia. | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): None — fully domestic. |
| Metric: New mining required. | HALEU: Yes. | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): No. |
| Metric: Carbon footprint of fuel cycle. | HALEU: Significant (mining, milling, enrichment). | BLSK Metal Fuel (Pyro): Minimal. |
Sources: DOE HALEU program data; Centrus Energy public filings; Chang 2026, slide 25; BLSK analysis; Based on Landmark CRADA conceptual design (2013–2018) and BLSK engineering projections
Fuel Cost Comparison
BLSK HALEU-equivalent fuel pricing vs. HALEU market price ($25,000+/kg).
Potential Business Pathways
Pathway 1
Used Fuel Processing
Process and stabilize used nuclear fuel. The U.S. spends $2 million per day on storage — a cost burden that grows with every year of inaction.
Pathway 2
Fuel Reserve
Build a strategic fuel reserve from actinides recovered during used fuel processing. Variable commercial fuel operations that can scale with demand.
Pathway 3
Technology Licensing
License pyroprocessing technology to reactor operators for on-site fuel recycling.
The Addressable Market Is Enormous — and Growing
95,000+ MT
Near-Term
U.S. used nuclear fuel in storage, growing ~2,000 MT/year
50,000 T/yr
Mid-Term
Global pyroprocessing capacity needed for LWR-to-SFR transition
5,000–7,000 GWe
Long-Term
Projected global nuclear capacity by 2100 (from ~400 GWe today)
Near-Term
95,000+ MT of used nuclear fuel in the U.S., growing by ~2,000 MT/year. Federal waste management liability: $52 billion and rising. The scale of this challenge represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity that BLSK's technology is positioned to address.
Mid-Term
The global fast reactor fuel market. Chang's analysis shows that the LWR-to-SFR transition requires a minimum of 50,000 T/yr of pyroprocessing capacity worldwide — generating approximately 750 tons of actinides per year, enough to start 75 GWe of new SFR capacity annually.
Long-Term
Global nuclear capacity is projected to grow from ~400 GWe today to 5,000–7,000 GWe by 2100. Every fast reactor in the world is expected to need fuel recycling. BLSK is building the technology platform for that entire market.
The total U.S. nuclear material inventory — used fuel plus enrichment tailings — represents over $30 trillion in wholesale electricity value and over a thousand years of domestic energy supply.
McKinsey & Company independently estimated the U.S. investment required for nuclear fuel reprocessing at $20 billion to $45 billion — encompassing both annual used fuel processing and drawdown of the existing stockpile. This figure provides external validation of the market BLSK Energy is positioned to address.
McKinsey & Company, May 2026
Sources: Chang 2026, slides 33, 40; DOE nuclear waste liability data; IEA/IAEA nuclear capacity projections; McKinsey & Company, May 2026
Used Fuel Processing Market Potential
Countries around the world are grappling with how to manage growing stockpiles of used nuclear fuel. Without reprocessing, this material requires isolation for more than 300,000 years before its radioactivity decays to safe levels — a storage obligation no nation has permanently solved. Pyroprocessing changes the equation: it extracts the remaining energy value and converts a multi-generational liability into usable fuel — while reducing the residual waste to a far smaller volume that requires only about 300 years of storage under less intensive containment, not 300,000. Learn more about the technology →
SOM = Serviceable Obtainable Market. SAM = Serviceable Available Market. TAM = Total Addressable Market. Sources: GAO; NRC; CBO; Harvard/Belfer Center; DOE
Alternative Disposal Costs (per kg)
These costs represent what the U.S. would pay under alternative disposal pathways. BLSK's processing offers an economically superior alternative.
The HALEU Supply Crunch
HALEU demand is set to skyrocket while supply remains critically constrained — TRU-based fuel offers a scalable alternative. By 2035, the market will need 50+ metric tonnes per year. Current domestic production: less than 1 MT/yr. That's a 98%+ gap.
$1.2B
Fast Reactor Fuel Market by 2035
20% of fast reactor fuel demand
$12B+
Fast Reactor Fuel Market by 2050
Scaling with global fleet
Sources: DOE HALEU EIS (2024); Centrus Energy; World Nuclear Association; INL Fuel Cycle Analysis
HALEU Demand vs. Supply
Supply Gap / HALEU Market Value (2030 → 2035)
- Supply Gap
- 98%+
- HALEU Market Value (2030 → 2035)
- $2.2B → $6.2B
Sources: DOE HALEU EIS (2024); Centrus Energy; World Nuclear Association; INL Fuel Cycle Analysis