DOW

With assistance from the Department of Energy’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) voucher program, Idaho National Laboratory researchers are lending their expertise to two very different companies.

In one corner is Dow, the giant plastics and chemicals manufacturer, that is exploring using microreactors to reduce carbon emissions. In the other corner, Curio Solutions, a Washington, D.C.-based startup that hopes to close the nuclear fuel cycle with a process that avoids proliferation concerns.