America is now dismantling old nuclear warheads to power nuclear reactors.

Nuclear and the present

Many efforts are underway to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which are smaller and cheaper to build than traditional nuclear power plants and can provide an in situ source of low-emission electricity.

But especially since President Joe Biden signed a ban on enriched uranium imports from Russia this year, nuclear scientists have had to turn to some very unusual sources.

An example would be CNN Scientists and energy start-ups are now reportedly smelting weapons-grade uranium from unexploded ordnance to power next-generation SMR reactors.

The “couch pillow exercise,” as Deputy Assistant Secretary Michael Goff of the Office of Nuclear Energy called it, is a heartening example of turning a weapon into something practical — not to mention a creative solution to a complex technical problem.

The fight for power

Uranium in unexploded ordnance is not the only source scientists are using. Others have launched a new supply chain for locally enriched uranium for reactors.

There’s a lot of money in this, at least potentially. According to CNNThe government will invest more than $2 billion in uranium enrichment this year.

Meanwhile, small startups including TerraPower, backed by Bill Gates, and Oklo, which is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, are racing to be the first to introduce the concept of small modular start-up reactors into public use.

Now that the United States has cut itself off from enriched uranium from Russia, these companies are becoming increasingly desperate.

“We’re getting to the point where we need to see more urgency from the government,” TerraPower Chief External Affairs Officer Jeff Navin said CNN“There is a huge national interest in moving quickly. We don’t fully understand why that same sense of urgency hasn’t reached the Department of Energy about extracting this material.”

Nuclear power currently accounts for about one-fifth of U.S. electricity production. As governments turn to green energy sources, demand for nuclear fuel and reactors is expected to continue to grow.

Small miniature reactors (SMRs) in particular have attracted interest from officials because of their use in industries using “high-grade, low-enriched uranium” (HALEU), which can be recovered from old weapons stockpiles.

The Energy Department is counting on reviving the domestic uranium enrichment industry, which could take years.

Fortunately, the country’s existing nuclear arsenal could give them a huge advantage.

“They have more than enough (highly enriched uranium) to produce many, many, many tons of HALEU,” Navin said. CNN.

More on small modular reactors: AI data centers need so much power they may need built-in nuclear reactors