Material Recovery and Waste Form Development (MRWFD) Program

The Material Recovery and Waste Form Development program conducts applied research and development (R&D) on advanced fuel recycle technologies that have the potential to improve resource utilization and energy generation, reduce waste generation, and limit proliferation risk. The program focuses on developing advanced fuel cycle technologies incorporating safeguards by design while addressing fundamental materials separation and recovery challenges that present significant degrees of technical risks and financial uncertainties.


MRWFD provides unique nuclear chemistry expertise and technical capabilities in separation technologies to a broad range of applications by seeking a fundamental understanding of various chemical challenges related to civil nuclear applications. MRWFD stewards the capabilities and knowledge relied upon by policy makers to make informed decisions regarding nuclear fuel cycle options. Such decisions in turn rely on the development of efficient and economical separation methods that can accept the used nuclear fuel containing actinides and fission products to recycle selected actinides, recover valuable by-products, and deliver waste streams that are suitable for disposal. For example, MRWFD supports molten salt chemistry research to support advanced nuclear technologies using molten salts as electrolytes, fuel solvent, and coolants. MRWFD funds research on integrated advanced technologies encompassing R&D on off gas capture, and waste form development. The subprogram employs a science-based approach to foster innovative and transformational technology solutions to achieve this objective. Specifically, the MRWFD program will continue to:


Areas of Focus
  • Exploit principles of coordination chemistry to simplify actinide separations
  • Understand and manage radiation effects on materials and processes
  • Develop advanced salt waste forms to efficiently immobilize fission products
  • Design robust materials for separation of gas-phase species and apply physical phenomena and gradients to intensify separations.
MRWFD Subprograms

There are five subprograms under MRWFD program: