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The Department of Energy wants to better understand “high burnup” spent fuel that is accumulating at nuclear power plants in the U.S.

The NRC has licensed storage casks at the higher burnup rates, but has not yet licensed their transportation.

High burnup fuel remains in nuclear reactor cores longer to produce more energy but comes out more radioactive and hotter.

The burnup rate of fuel rods is a measure of the energy extracted from a given amount of fuel, and is expressed in gigawatt-days per metric ton of uranium.

High burnup fuel rods stay hotter longer, emit more radioactivity, and may become brittle, scientists suspect, as the cladding that holds them together endures greater stresses.