CHICAGO, Illinois, May 5, 2026 – Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) announced today a major milestone for advanced fuels: its patented ANEEL fuel has completed its high burnup irradiation test in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The final set of irradiation capsules have achieved more than 60 GWd/MTU of burnup, representing more than eight times the typical discharge burnup of traditional pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors. This testing highlights the potential of ANEEL fuel to dramatically improve fuel utilization in existing reactor fleets and paves the way for near term commercialization.

The significance of higher burnups derived from ANEEL fuel translates to several operational benefits when integrated with the existing reactor design: reduced nuclear spent fuel volumes, improved reactor economics, enhanced safety performance and improved proliferation resistance. The irradiation results build on decades of global research into thorium fuel cycles to improve fuel utilisation and resource efficiency in existing heavy-water reactor fleets without reactor modifications.

The ATR irradiation campaign involved twelve ANEEL fuel rodlets that were loaded into the reactor in May 2024 and designed to reach three burnup targets: 20, 40, and 60 GWd/MTU. Eight rodlets exceeded the first two burnup targets last year and are currently undergoing post-irradiation examination (PIE) at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC). Less than two years after irradiation began, the remaining four rodlets have now reached the highest burnup target, over 60 GWd/MTU, and will be transferred to MFC following a short cooling period. The irradiation campaign represents an important step in generating real-world performance data for ANEEL fuel under reactor conditions. Results obtained during PIE will provide detailed insight into fuel behaviour, microstructure, and performance at high burnup levels.

Due to its compact, high-flux nature, irradiation conditions in the ATR are typically more aggressive than in a PHWR. This allows fuel behaviour to be evaluated under accelerated conditions that simulate extended reactor operation. PIE results obtained to date are consistent with findings reported in the literature and suggest that ANEEL fuel performs well, with some test rodlets exhibiting superior fission gas retention compared to traditional UO2 fuel. Initial observations also show that ANEEL fuel maintains structural integrity and favorable fission gas retention behaviour throughout irradiation.

"Surpassing 60 GWd/MTU of burnup in the Advanced Test Reactor marks an important milestone for the ANEEL fuel program,” said Mehul Shah, CEO of Clean Core Thorium Energy. “This irradiation campaign provides meaningful performance data and demonstrates that thorium-HALEU fuel can achieve burnup levels comparable to those seen in PWR fuels while offering improved fuel utilization, enhanced safety characteristics, inherent proliferation resistance, and meaningful reductions in long-lived nuclear spent fuel radioisotopes. Our objective has been to introduce thorium into the nuclear fuel cycle in a practical way using existing reactors, and this milestone represents a significant step toward that goal.”

“This final portion of the irradiation experiment has been several years in the making and I congratulate Clean Core on their major accomplishment. This has been an exciting project to support, and I’m eager to see what can be learned from the upcoming high burnup sample PIE results.” said Kelley Walker, principal investigator for the CCTE irradiation campaign at INL.

With the ATR irradiation complete and post-irradiation examination underway, CCTE is already planning its next milestone: a demonstration irradiation in a commercial power reactor that will move ANEEL fuel from proven test concept to commercial reality. The company will continue to work with INL and industry partners in support of a cleaner, more efficient global nuclear fleet.

About ANEEL Fuel

ANEEL is the CCTE’s patented nuclear fuel technology combining thorium with enriched uranium. The fuel retains the same external geometry as existing fuel for PHWR and CANDU reactors, including 19- and 37-element designs. This allows for integration into current reactor fleets without modifications to reactor systems or core design. ANEEL is designed to achieve higher burnup and improved fuel utilisation, with the potential to reduce spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a nuclear fuel company exploring thorium-driven nuclear innovations. Clean Core’s patented nuclear fuel technology (called the ANEEL fuel) is comprised of thorium and enriched uranium (LEU+ to HALEU), which is capable of improving the safety and cost-efficiency of pressurized heavy-water reactors. The ANEEL fuel is a novel solution to safety, waste, and proliferation concerns in today’s nuclear plants.

Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/. Follow us on social media: LinkedIn and X.

About Idaho National Laboratory

Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s centre for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. For more information, visit www.inl.gov. Follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

CHICAGO, Sept. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) announces that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have granted a 10 CFR Part 810 Authorization (“Specific License”) to export their ANEEL fuel technology and services to India. The specific license, signed by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, includes assurances from key Indian nuclear industry “end users”, including Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited (NPCIL), and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

CCTE designed and patented a thorium-enriched uranium fuel (called ANEEL fuel) that can “plug-and-play” in existing Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), resulting in significantly higher burnup, reduced waste, lower costs, enhanced safety, and proliferation-resistant performance. The export license marks a major milestone, authorizing CCTE to export its nuclear technology from the United States to India. This validates the demand for ANEEL fuel in India, strengthens the U.S. HALEU industry, and paves the way for near-term U.S.–India nuclear cooperation.

Mehul Shah, CEO and Founder of CCTE, emphasized the broader implications: “The approval of the Part 810 license unlocks the full potential of ANEEL fuel and reignites the U.S.-India 123 Agreement, marking a historic milestone in strategic nuclear cooperation. We are deeply grateful to the U.S. and Indian establishments for their vision and support in enabling this breakthrough. With thorium at its core, ANEEL fuel delivers higher performance and energy security, driving a cleaner and safer energy future for the world.”

The achievement has also been recognized as a critical advancement for the U.S.–India partnership by leading organizations such as US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the USISPF, noted: “The U.S.-India energy partnership is a key pillar of our bilateral ties, and the approval of Clean Core Thorium Energy’s 10 CFR Part 810 license marks a historic step forward in U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation. This milestone not only strengthens bilateral trust but also demonstrates how American innovation and Indian expertise can address the world’s growing demand for advancing energy security and nonproliferation goals.”

In August 2025, CCTE announced that the second set of four rodlets exceeded 45 GWd/MTU—nearly six to seven times the average burnup limit of standard natural uranium fuel used in PHWRs/CANDUs. This milestone burn-up accomplishment at Idaho National Lab’s Advanced Test Reactor provides technical validation for the ANEEL fuel’s potential to redefine performance and sustainability standards in the nuclear industry. Indian industry partners highlighted the advantages. “ANEEL fuel presents a substantial opportunity to enhance the competitive positioning of PHWR/CANDU technology, while simultaneously accelerating the realization of thorium as a more potentially sustainable nuclear fuel source than uranium,” said Anil V. Parab, Whole-time Director and Senior EVP at Larsen & Toubro.

In 2024, CCTE announced partnerships with key Indian private and public sector partners including Larsen & Toubro and the National Thermal Power Corporation, reinforcing the strong foundation for collaboration in deploying advanced nuclear technologies. CCTE plans to further technical collaboration and commercial contracts with Indian partners in the coming months for commercialization of the ANEEL fuel.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a U.S.-based nuclear innovation company developing advanced nuclear fuel solutions using thorium and HALEU. Its patented ANEEL™ fuel is designed to enhance the safety, economics, and nonproliferation profile of PHWRs and CANDU reactors while drastically reducing nuclear waste. Learn more at https://cleancore.energy. Follow us on LinkedIn and X.

CHICAGO, Illinois, April 14, 2026 – Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) announce an agreement to manufacture demonstration irradiation (DI) bundles of ANEEL™ fuel. This milestone follows successful completion of a collaborative Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI) project which provided model verification and validation of the computer codes and analysis methods used in the design and safety analysis of ANEEL™ fuel.

Advancing Fuel Performance and Testing

DI bundles are prototypic (full-scale) ANEEL™ fuel bundles matching actual reactor fuel bundles designed for interface and irradiation testing. Manufactured by CNL at the Chalk River Laboratories, these bundles will enable CCTE to conduct demonstration irradiation which will provide practical, in-reactor data for to support future qualification and potential deployment of ANEEL™ fuel in CANDU reactors and other Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). CNL will lead the development, qualification, and manufacturing of ANEEL™ fuel under Canadian Standard Association (CSA) requirements for manufacturing nuclear fuel.

This will allow for a DI that would provide additional reassurance to the designer, the utility, the manufacturer, and the regulator, of acceptable fuel performance and the first example of operational experience for a new fuel design.

“This milestone advances ANEEL™ from validated models to an engineered, fleet-compatible fuel design,” said Mehul Shah, Founder and CEO of Clean Core Thorium Energy. “The fabrication of reactor-representative bundles with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, followed by CCTE’s subsequent irradiation, will position us to generate the performance data necessary to support regulatory review and future fleet deployment. It marks a foundational step toward commercial readiness.”

“CNL has maintained core capabilities in fuel research, development and fabrication enabling us to take on the manufacturing of novel and next generation fuels,” explains Dr. Monica Regalbuto, Vice-President, Science & Technology. “We are pleased to be working with CCTE and to apply the deep expertise of the labs to this exciting advanced fuel project.”

A Comprehensive Development Roadmap

This initiative is a core component of CCTE’s broader ANEEL™ fuel development programme, which includes:

• Model Validation: Successful model and analysis method validation at CNL.
• Irradiation Testing: Accelerated burnup qualification at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor, targeting burnup levels exceeding 60 GWd/t/MTU
• Regulatory Progress: Completion of a Phase 1 pre-licensing vendor design review with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Together, these activities support the ongoing qualification and commercial readiness of ANEEL™ fuel for use in existing CANDU reactor and PHWR designs.

About ANEEL™ Fuel

ANEEL™ is CCTE’s patented nuclear fuel technology combining thorium with enriched uranium. The fuel retains the same external geometry as existing fuel for PHWRs and CANDU reactors, including 19- and 37-element designs. This allows for integration into current reactor fleets without major reactor hardware modifications or core design. ANEEL™ is designed to achieve higher burnup and improved fuel utilisation in a once-through fuel cycle, with the potential to reduce long-lived spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a nuclear fuel company exploring thorium-driven nuclear innovations. Clean Core’s patented nuclear fuel technology (called the ANEEL™ fuel) is comprised of thorium and enriched uranium (LEU+ to HALEU), which can improve the safety and cost-efficiency of pressurized heavy-water reactors. The ANEEL™ fuel is a novel solution to safety, waste, and proliferation concerns in today’s nuclear plants.

About CNL

As Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology laboratory and working under the direction of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), CNL is a world leader in the development of innovative nuclear science and technology products and services. CNL fulfils three strategic priorities of national importance – restoring and protecting the environment, advancing clean energy technologies, and contributing to the health of Canadians.

By leveraging the assets owned by AECL, CNL also serves as the nexus between government, the nuclear industry, the broader private sector, and the academic community. CNL works in collaboration with these sectors to advance innovative Canadian products and services towards real-world use, including carbon-free energy, cancer treatments and other therapies, non-proliferation technologies and waste management solutions.

To learn more about CNL, please visit www.cnl.ca.

CCTE Engages Kinectrics to Independently Review ANEEL Fuel Qualification Program

The collaboration advances ANEEL’s technical and regulatory qualification ahead of commercial reactor demonstration.

CHICAGO, Illinois, August 17, 2026 – Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) has selected Kinectrics Inc. (Kinectrics), a division of BWX Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BWXT), to conduct an independent technical review of the ANEEL fuel qualification program as the company advances toward commercial reactor demonstration.

Kinectrics will perform an independent assessment of the ANEEL fuel qualification program, reviewing key aspects of fuel design, manufacturing, safety and regulatory readiness. The review is intended to support future evaluation by utility Fuel Design Authorities and other stakeholders as the program progresses towards a commercial demonstration irradiation.

This collaboration represents a critical milestone in CCTE’s commercial demonstration program, following previously announced collaborations with BWXT Canada Ltd. for the supply of CANDU fuel bundle hardware and with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) for fabrication of full-scale, reactor-ready ANEEL fuel bundles. Together, these partnerships establish the manufacturing, engineering and independent technical capabilities required to advance ANEEL toward commercial reactor demonstration.

“Kinectrics brings world-class expertise in nuclear safety analysis and licensing support, making them one of the most trusted independent evaluators in the nuclear industry,” said Milan Shah, COO of Clean Core Thorium Energy. “With BWXT Canada supplying the fuel bundles and CNL advancing ANEEL fuel pellet fabrication, their independent evaluation provides critical validation as we progress toward regulatory approval and future deployment.”

The collaboration between CCTE, BWXT Canada, CNL, and Kinectrics highlights the strength of Canada’s nuclear supply chain in supporting advanced fuel technologies. Together, these capabilities establish a practical pathway toward demonstration of thorium-based fuel in existing CANDU reactors, supporting the development of fuel with enhanced inherent safety, reduced waste and improved proliferation resistance, while leveraging established reactor infrastructure without requiring major reactor modifications.

The engagement builds on a series of technical milestones achieved by CCTE over the past year. Earlier this year, ANEEL completed accelerated irradiation testing at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor, achieving burnups exceeding 60 GWd/MTU. In parallel, CCTE also published a comprehensive peer-reviewed engineering assessment in Nuclear Engineering and Design, a leading peer-reviewed journal in nuclear engineering published by Elsevier, demonstrating the fuel’s performance, safety characteristics and compatibility across multiple reactor applications.

Together, these milestones establish the experimental, manufacturing and independent technical foundation supporting ANEEL’s commercial reactor demonstration programme and future commercial deployment.

About ANEEL Fuel

ANEEL is CCTE’s nuclear fuel platform which includes fuel designs and manufacturing, patents and intellectual property, physical high-burnup irradiation data, and advanced modelling. The fuel is a flexible design combining thorium and enriched uranium, with potential applications across Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), Gen IV reactors, and Light Water Reactors (LWRs). Across these reactor technologies, ANEEL is designed to improve fuel utilization, with the potential to reduce long-lived spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen safety margins by improving inherent safety characteristics and proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a nuclear fuel company exploring thorium-driven nuclear innovations. Clean Core’s patented nuclear fuel technology (called the ANEEL fuel) is comprised of thorium and enriched uranium (LEU to HALEU), which can improve the safety and cost-efficiency of water-cooled reactors and advanced reactor technologies. The ANEEL fuel is a novel solution to safety, waste, and proliferation concerns in today’s nuclear plants.

Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/. Follow us on social media: LinkedIn and X.

Following Clean Core Thorium Energy’s (CCTE) successful testing at Idaho National Lab’s Advanced Test Reactor, new data from the post-irradiation examination shows markedly less cracking, fuel restructuring and swelling than conventional uranium dioxide fuel, adding new evidence of the fuel’s structural stability and fuel performance under demanding irradiation conditions as well as advancing the path toward commercialization.

CHICAGO, Illinois, September 14, 2026 – Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) today announced new results from testing at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) showing that its thorium-based nuclear fuel remained structurally intact after irradiation beyond 45 GWd/MTU and exhibited markedly less radial cracking, fuel restructuring and swelling than conventional uranium dioxide fuel examined under comparable conditions.

Uranium dioxide (UO₂) is the standard fuel material used across much of today’s nuclear reactor fleet. When researchers at INL examined CCTE’s irradiated thorium fuel in comparison to UO2 pellets, CCTE’s pellets remained intact, with no evidence of gross fragmentation. The results provide new physical evidence of the fuel’s structural stability under irradiation and add to the growing body of experimental data supporting CCTE’s thorium-based nuclear fuel platform (called ANEEL). The findings come from post-irradiation examination (PIE) of the medium-burnup batch of CCTE’s thorium-based fuel pellets, following irradiation in INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Three of the four rodlets in the batch have now completed detailed examination at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC), providing a detailed view of the fuel’s microstructural condition after irradiation.

The fuel exceeded 45 gigawatt-days per metric ton (GWd/MTU) of burnup, a measure of how much energy has been extracted from nuclear fuel. During irradiation, the annular fuel pellets experienced a volumetric power density of approximately 1,500 W/cm³ (around four times that of CANDU fuel) and a neutron flux of approximately 5 × 10¹⁴ n/cm²·s.

Following a cooling period in the water canal adjacent to the reactor, the rodlets were transferred to MFC’s Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), where INL researchers conducted non-destructive and destructive examinations to characterize the condition of the fuel. Optical microscopy of the polished and sectioned fuel provides a side-by-side comparison between CCTE’s thorium-based fuel pellets and a conventional UO₂ pellet. The UO₂ pellet, despite having accumulated less burnup, exhibits substantially more fuel fragmentation. CCTE’s pellets remained intact across the examined cross-sections, with no evidence of gross fragmentation or adverse fuel-cladding or pellet-pellet interaction. The results also show limited fuel restructuring and swelling in CCTE’s fuel. Together with the observed cracking behavior, these findings provide encouraging evidence of favorable thermal-mechanical behavior under irradiation and are consistent with the fission gas retention behavior observed in CCTE’s earlier irradiation work.

CCTE develops its thorium-based fuel products using its patented ANEEL advanced nuclear fuel platform. The platform combines CCTE’s fuel technology, intellectual property, physical irradiation data, and advanced modelling to support the development of thorium-based nuclear fuel products and other applications for the global nuclear industry. These medium-burnup PIE results build on CCTE’s growing body of physical irradiation data. CCTE’s fuel first exceeded 20 GWd/MTU in 2024, followed by the medium-burnup batch exceeding 45 GWd/MTU in 2025. A separate high-burnup batch subsequently completed irradiation beyond 60 GWd/MTU in 2026.

Milan Shah, Chief Operating Officer of Clean Core Thorium Energy, said:

“These results represent an important step in the maturation of ANEEL, adding direct post-irradiation evidence to the growing body of physical performance data supporting the technology. Seeing the fuel retain its structural integrity beyond 45 GWd/MTU, with markedly less radial cracking than standard UO₂, gives us greater confidence in thorium, the ANEEL technology and its commercial potential. Our focus now is translating this growing scientific evidence into commercial reactor demonstration and deployment.”

Danial Wachs, National Technical Director for the DOE’s Advanced Fuel Campaign said:

“Meeting the modern demand for nuclear energy is going to require utilities to simultaneously increase energy production and lower energy cost. The engagement of nuclear fuel technology innovators will be necessary to deliver the solutions necessary to achieve this challenging goal. INL is proud to make its unique experimental capabilities accessible to industrial partners, like CCTE, for testing their ideas and collecting important performance data.”

With the medium-burnup PIE now complete for three rodlets and data available from the completed high-burnup irradiation campaign, CCTE continues to build the technical evidence supporting its ANEEL platform and the development of commercial thorium-based nuclear fuel.

The work builds on CCTE’s recent progress, including its supply agreement with BWXT Canada to fabricate full-scale demonstration fuel bundles at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and its ongoing independent qualification review with Kinectrics. CCTE will continue working with INL and industry partners towards commercial reactor demonstration and deployment of its thorium-based fuel technology.

About ANEEL Fuel

ANEEL is CCTE’s nuclear fuel platform which includes fuel designs and manufacturing, patents and intellectual property, the largest global dataset of physical high-burnup irradiation data, advanced modelling, and more. The fuel designs are flexible combining thorium and enriched uranium (LEU to HALEU), with potential applications across Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), Advanced Reactors, and Light Water Reactors (LWRs). Across these reactor technologies, ANEEL is designed to improve fuel utilization and economics, with the potential to reduce long-lived spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen safety margins by improving inherent safety characteristics and proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a US-based nuclear fuel company leading thorium-driven nuclear innovations. The company is developing ANEEL, a thorium-based fuel platform designed to improve the economics, performance and sustainability of existing and next-generation nuclear reactors. CCTE's long-term vision is to establish ANEEL as a global nuclear fuel platform, develop scalable supply chains and creating new pathways for thorium across both the nuclear fuel cycle and non-nuclear applications.

Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/. Follow us on social media: LinkedIn and X.

About Idaho National Laboratory

Idaho National Laboratory is managed by Battelle Energy Alliance for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy. INL serves as the nation's leading center for nuclear energy research and development, alongside research across DOE's energy, national security, science, and environmental mission areas. Learn more at www.inl.gov. Follow INL on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

BWXT Canada to supply fuel bundle hardware for fabrication of full-scale ANEEL demonstration fuel bundles at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.

CHICAGO, Illinois, August 3rd, 2026 – Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) has taken another step toward the commercial demonstration of its ANEEL nuclear fuel platform through a fuel fabrication agreement with BWXT Canada Ltd. (BWXT). The agreement enables the fabrication of full-scale demonstration fuel bundles at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), bringing together the final manufacturing capabilities required to prepare ANEEL fuel for irradiation in an operating reactor.

Under the agreement, BWXT Canada will supply qualified fuel bundle hardware that will be integrated with ANEEL fuel pellets and assembled into complete, reactor-representative fuel bundles at the CNL’s Chalk River Laboratories. The agreement establishes another key element of the manufacturing pathway supporting CCTE’s commercial demonstration program.

Completing the Demonstration Supply Chain
This collaboration establishes a clear pathway for fabricating ANEEL fuel in a form suitable for in-reactor testing.
CCTE provides the ANEEL fuel design and material specifications.
BWXT Canada supplies the fuel bundle component hardware under the existing manufacturing QA Program.
CNL fabricates ANEEL fuel pellets and carries out final full-bundle assembly for demonstration under established nuclear standards.
Together, these roles enable the transition from validated fuel design to fully assembled fuel bundles ready for demonstration irradiation.

“Sourcing materials from BWXT Canada represents an important step forward in demonstrating the viability of ANEEL fuel in existing reactor systems,” said Mehul Shah, CEO and Founder of Clean Core Thorium Energy. “Their decades of expertise in safe and reliable fuel fabrication, combined with deep experience with CANDU technology, combine to build a strong foundation for advancing our mission to deliver safer, more efficient nuclear energy solutions.”

The assembled ANEEL fuel bundles will be used in a demonstration irradiation program to generate in-reactor performance data. This data will support regulatory qualification and future deployment of ANEEL fuel across compatible reactor platforms. By leveraging existing fuel formats and infrastructure, the program is designed to introduce thorium-based fuel into the current reactor fleet without requiring major reactor modifications. This collaboration ensures manufacturer’s fuel qualification for commercialization.
The fabrication program builds on a series of technical milestones achieved by CCTE over the past year. CCTE recently completed accelerated irradiation testing of ANEEL fuel rodlets at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor, achieving burnups exceeding 60 GWd/MTU. The company also published a comprehensive peer-reviewed engineering assessment in Nuclear Engineering and Design, a leading peer-reviewed journal in nuclear engineering published by Elsevier, demonstrating the fuel’s performance, safety characteristics and compatibility across multiple reactor applications.
Together, these achievements establish the analytical, experimental and manufacturing foundation supporting the commercial demonstration of the ANEEL nuclear fuel platform.


About ANEEL Fuel
ANEEL is CCTE’s nuclear fuel platform which includes fuel designs, patents and intellectual property, physical high-burnup irradiation data, and advanced modeling.
The fuel is a flexible design combining thorium and enriched uranium, with potential applications across Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), Gen IV reactors, and Light Water Reactors (LWRs).
For PHWRs, ANEEL is designed as a drop-in replacement for existing fuel, allowing integration into current reactor fleets without reactor or core design modifications. For Gen IV reactors, ANEEL offers a potentially lower-cost alternative fuel. For PWRs, ANEEL has the potential to enable higher burnup and extended refueling cycles.
Across these reactor technologies, ANEEL is designed to improve fuel utilization, with the potential to reduce long-lived spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen safety margins and proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy
Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) is a US-based nuclear fuel company exploring thorium-driven nuclear innovations. Clean Core’s patented nuclear fuel platform (called ANEEL) is designed, patented and tested for flexibility across configurations of thorium and enriched uranium (LEU to HALEU).This novel solution delivers significant benefits as compared to current fuels including improved safety margins and proliferation resistance, reduced waste, better economics and more in today’s nuclear reactors. CCTE is developing the fuel and supply chains to support today’s nuclear reactors and the future’s nuclear scale up.
Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/. Follow us on social media: LinkedIn and X.

Media Contact
Milan Shah
Chief Operating Officer
info@cleancore.energy

Companies will evaluate long-term domestic HALEU supply arrangements to support commercialization of advanced thorium-based nuclear fuel.

CHICAGO, Ill. and BOSTON, Mass. (July 20, 2026) — Clean Core Thorium Energy, Inc. (CCTE), a nuclear fuel innovation company advancing thorium-based fuel technologies, and Quadrant Nuclear Industries Inc. (QNI), a developer of integrated nuclear fuel cycle capabilities, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a framework for collaboration on the supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel.

Under the MoU, the companies will explore how domestically produced HALEU from QNI’s planned commercial reprocessing facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) could support the future commercial deployment of CCTE’s ANEEL™ fuel. The agreement reflects a shared commitment to strengthening the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, accelerating the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, and supporting U.S. energy security and decarbonization objectives.

HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) is a higher-enrichment nuclear fuel required by many advanced reactor and next-generation fuel technologies. Expanding domestic production has become a strategic priority for the United States as the country works to strengthen its nuclear fuel supply chain.

“We are pleased to establish this agreement with QNI as we continue advancing the commercialization of our ANEEL™ fuel technology,” said Mehul Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Core Thorium Energy. “Commercial deployment of advanced nuclear fuels depends not only on successful fuel development, but also on reliable access to the materials needed to manufacture them. As we move closer to commercialization, establishing relationships with prospective domestic HALEU suppliers is an important step in preparing for future deployment. We look forward to working with QNI to explore supply arrangements that support our long-term fuel requirements and contribute to a stronger domestic nuclear fuel supply chain.”

ANEEL™ combines thorium with enriched uranium and is designed for use in existing PHWR and CANDU reactors. Independent engineering analyses indicate that the fuel has the potential to achieve significantly higher fuel utilization while improving reactor safety characteristics and reducing spent fuel volumes.

"Innovation in nuclear fuel is just as important as innovation in reactor technology," said Dee Mewbourne, CEO of QNI. "By working with Clean Core Thorium Energy, we are exploring ways to support advanced fuel concepts with a dependable domestic supply of HALEU, helping create new opportunities for the commercial deployment of nuclear energy."

QNI is developing an integrated HALEU production capability in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy and other key stakeholders. Its planned reprocessing facility at INL is being designed to produce up to eighteen metric tons of HALEU annually at full capacity, supporting both commercial and government markets for advanced nuclear reactors.

The companies intend to collaborate on areas including fuel supply planning, technical interface requirements, commercial structuring, regulatory coordination, logistics considerations, and demand forecasting associated with future HALEU supply arrangements.

The MoU establishes a framework for future collaboration as both companies continue advancing their respective commercial programs.

The MoU is non-binding and does not establish pricing, quantity, or exclusivity commitments. Any binding terms would be subject to a definitive agreement following further negotiation

About Clean Core

Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) is a nuclear fuel innovation company focused on advancing thorium-based fuel technologies for existing and future reactor applications. Its patented ANEEL™ fuel combines thorium and enriched uranium to improve fuel performance while reducing waste generation and supporting enhanced safety and proliferation resistance characteristics. CCTE is working to expand deployment opportunities for advanced nuclear fuels that can leverage existing reactor infrastructure.

About QNI

Quadrant Nuclear Industries, Inc. (QNI) is a U.S.-based nuclear energy company focused on building an integrated, domestic nuclear fuel cycle to support the next generation of advanced reactors. The company is developing capabilities across fuel production, recovery, and reprocessing, with a focus on enabling a reliable, secure, and sustainable supply of nuclear fuel in the United States. QNI is advancing key initiatives in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy and national laboratories, including activities at Idaho National Laboratory aimed at the responsible recycling of used nuclear fuel. Through its technology-driven and execution-focused approach, QNI seeks to strengthen U.S. energy security and accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems.

Publication in Nuclear Engineering and Design follows the successful conclusion of a multi-year irradiation campaign at INL's Advanced Test Reactor, in which ANEEL fuel physically demonstrated burnup exceeding 60 GWd/MTU

CHICAGO, Illinois, July 15, 2026 — Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) today announced a major technical milestone for its ANEEL fuel program with the publication of a comprehensive peer-reviewed engineering assessment in Nuclear Engineering and Design, a leading peer-reviewed journal in nuclear engineering published by Elsevier. The publication follows the successful completion of CCTE’s multi-year irradiation campaign at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where ANEEL fuel physically achieved burnup exceeding 60 GWd/MTU in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Together, these milestones represent two independent lines of evidence supporting the technical feasibility of ANEEL fuel for deployment in existing pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs), including CANDU reactors.

ANEEL fuel's performance has now been established in two independent ways: physically, through a completed high-burnup irradiation test in a U.S. national laboratory reactor, and analytically, through peer-reviewed analyses now published in the open scientific literature. The test data and the published analyses point to the same conclusion — that ANEEL fuel can deliver substantially higher burnup than natural uranium fuel, with improved safety margins, in reactors operating today.

The published analyses report an average discharge burnup of 44,300 MWd/MTHM for ANEEL fuel in a CANDU-6 reactor — approximately six times that of natural uranium fuel, and consistent with the burnup levels physically demonstrated in the ATR campaign. The paper further reports that ANEEL fuel reduces full-core coolant void reactivity by nearly 20%, improving upon a key safety parameter of natural uranium-fueled PHWRs. Independent calculations performed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) using the MCNP code confirm that existing reactor control and shutdown systems maintain adequate margins with ANEEL fuel, requiring no redesign. The analyses also show a fuel temperature coefficient more than six times more negative than natural uranium fuel, lower peak fuel temperatures under a simulated loss-of-coolant accident, and structural integrity of the fuel rod maintained throughout the simulated irradiation history.

The publication represents an important milestone in nearly a decade of ANEEL fuel development and reflects a collaborative effort across industry, academia and national laboratories. The authors include experts from Clean Core Thorium Energy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Innovative Nuclear Solutions, and Structural Integrity Associates, while independent validation analyses were performed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) using industry-standard methodologies. These results build upon CCTE’s completed irradiation campaign at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the successful completion of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) Phase 1 Vendor Design Review in 2024.

Together, the analyses address the principal technical questions associated with deploying thorium-HALEU fuel in existing reactors: reactivity behavior and safety coefficients, compatibility with existing reactor control and shutdown systems, thermal-hydraulic performance under postulated accident conditions, and structural integrity at high burnup. Each is now examined in the open, peer-reviewed literature.

“Milestones in this industry are earned in reactors, not in renderings. ANEEL fuel achieved its burnup and performance objectives in a physical test at Idaho National Laboratory, and the analyses underpinning the fuel's design have now withstood the scrutiny of peer review in one of the field's leading journals. We demonstrated first and published second — that ordering reflects how we approach this technology,” said Mehul Shah, Founder and CEO of Clean Core Thorium Energy.

“Our goal with this paper was transparency: to place the full technical case for ANEEL fuel — the physics, the safety coefficients, the accident performance, the structural analysis — into the open literature where it can be examined by the global research community. The published results, are consistent with what the fuel demonstrated physically in the Advanced Test Reactor, which is a key result.” said Michael Worrall, corresponding author of the publication and Reactor Physics Lead at Clean Core Thorium Energy.

The paper notes the remaining steps toward commercial deployment, including bounding safety analyses under a wider range of accident scenarios, fuel qualification testing against thoria-specific empirical data, and continued regulatory engagement — work that is underway through CCTE's ongoing irradiation programs, including post-irradiation examination of the ATR test specimens at INL's Materials and Fuels Complex, and pre-licensing activities. The company will continue to work with its national laboratory and industry partners in support of a cleaner, more efficient global nuclear fleet.

The full publication is available open access at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2026.115094

About ANEEL Fuel

ANEEL is CCTE's patented nuclear fuel technology combining thorium with enriched uranium. The fuel retains the same external geometry as existing fuel for PHWR and CANDU reactors, including 19- and 37-element designs. This allows for integration into current reactor fleets without modifications to reactor systems or core design. ANEEL is designed to achieve higher burnup and improved fuel utilisation, with the potential to reduce spent fuel volumes per unit of energy generated and strengthen proliferation resistance.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy is a nuclear fuel company exploring thorium-driven nuclear innovations. Clean Core's patented nuclear fuel technology (called the ANEEL fuel) is comprised of thorium and enriched uranium (LEU+ to HALEU), which is capable of improving the safety and cost-efficiency of pressurized heavy-water reactors. The ANEEL fuel is a novel solution to safety, waste, and proliferation concerns in today's nuclear plants. Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/.