Deep Isolation licenses its disposal technology to fed contractor Navarro

Nuclear waste disposal technology company Deep Isolation Nuclear announced it has signed a technology licensing agreement with government contractor Navarro Research and Engineering, giving Navarro access to Deep Isolation's portfolio of intellectual property for use in nuclear and hazardous waste management applications across the states of Tennessee and Idaho.

The agreement with Navarro includes access to U.S. and international patents covering repository systems, hazardous material canisters, and monitoring technologies. Deep Isolation's intellectual property portfolio spans planning methodologies, operational processes, and patented borehole and canister technologies.

Based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Navarro holds nuclear, environmental, and technical services contracts with a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense, and NASA. The company is currently involved in the cleanup of DOE sites in Idaho, Nevada, and at Hanford, Wash.

Background: Founded in 2016, Deep Isolation's borehole system adopts directional drilling technology developed and commercialized by the oil and gas sectors for the deep geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

The company successfully demonstrated its deep borehole disposal system in January 2019, and it currently tests a range of canister designs in boreholes at its Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Texas.

In 2022, Deep Isolation was awarded a $3.6 million grant through the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop a universal canister system (UCS) in collaboration with partners NAC International, the University of California-Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The UCS is a triple-purpose system designed for the storage, transport, and disposal of advanced reactor waste.

Deep Isolation also signed a memorandum of understanding in 2022 to license its technology to engineering services company Amentum, with an initial focus on locations in Europe and the Pacific.

Quotables: "Navarro is thrilled to partner with Deep Isolation to bring this groundbreaking nuclear waste storage technology to our projects," said Susana Navarro, president of Navarro Research and Engineering. "Deep Isolation's patented solutions will help us expand our ability to serve industry and government clients with safe and sustainable waste management strategies."

Deep Isolation CEO Rod Baltzer added, "Our partnership with Navarro demonstrates the growing market demand for integrated solutions for nuclear waste challenges. By working with Navarro, we are enabling broader commercialization of our novel technology while maintaining our leadership in developing scalable, safe, and cost-effective solutions for nuclear waste disposal."