Through a new public-private partnership with Zeno Power, DOE's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has reduced the amount of legacy radioactive material on the site. Zeno will recycle the material into a source of clean energy.
Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management
January 26, 2024
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(From left) UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter, DOE Senior Advisor for EM Ike White, DOE OREM Manager Jay Mullis, Zeno Power CEO Tyler Bernstein, and NASA Chief Technologist Len Dudzinski celebrate a partnership that is reusing legacy radioactive material previously stored at Oak Ridge for national security and science missions.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Through a new public-private partnership with Zeno Power Systems, Inc. (Zeno), the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has reduced the amount of legacy radioactive material on the site. Zeno will recycle the material into a source of clean energy.
OREM, supported by its environmental cleanup contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), recently transported a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) containing strontium-90 to a commercial nuclear facility out of state. Zeno will recycle the material at that facility to power its novel radioisotope power systems (RPS). The technology in these power systems is capable of converting heat generated by the decay of radioisotopes into a durable, reliable source of electricity in remote and challenging environments.
“This transfer highlights another unique approach our team has taken to accelerate environmental cleanup in Oak Ridge,” said OREM Manager Jay Mullis. “This is a win-win scenario that’s removing a significant source of radioactivity at a savings to taxpayers, while also supporting nuclear innovation.”
In 2023, Zeno announced it has more than $40 million in government contracts to develop innovative RPSs for multiple domains of interest across the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The company is also developing RPS technology with NASA and other leading lunar industry companies to enable long-term lunar applications.
“This public-private partnership enables us to transform legacy radioactive material into clean energy, enabling future national security and scientific missions,” said Zeno Co-founder and CEO Tyler Bernstein. “We appreciate the commitment and support of so many officials from DOE, OREM, and UCOR who made this partnership a reality.”
The transported equipment, the Byproduct Utilization Program (BUP) 500-watt RTG, was built in the mid-1980s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), but it was never deployed. The generator had been stored at ORNL for nearly 40 years, and before this new partnership, it was expected to remain in storage for another 30 years before OREM could dispose of it.
The equipment was previously stored at a facility that is scheduled for demolition at ORNL. This transfer accelerates the clean-out around that facility, avoids the costs associated with disposal, and significantly reduces liability at ORNL.
About Zeno Power Systems, Inc.
Zeno Power is a leading developer of commercial radioisotope power systems (RPSs). The company, founded in 2018, has offices in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, WA. Zeno is currently executing contracts with NASA and the DOD and is on track to deliver its initial RPSs to customers by 2026. Zeno demonstrated its first strontium-90 nuclear heat source in 2023 in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. zenopower.com/
About DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management
OREM is responsible for removing environmental legacies resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park. Its projects are protecting the region’s health and environment, enabling the U.S. Department of Energy’s ongoing research and national security missions, and making clean land available for future use. energy.gov/orem