Emerging from stealth on February 11, 2026, with an oversubscribed $12 million seed round, Project Omega aims to transform U.S. spent nuclear fuel, which is currently a liability, into a strategic national asset.
Top Insights:
Validation Velocity: Unlike SMR startups facing decade-long timelines, Project Omega has already secured technical validation. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) successfully produced a working proof of concept “within months,” measuring electrical power output from Omega’s processed material.
Regulatory Moat: The company was “started with the help of” Christopher T. Hanson, the former Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). His involvement provides rare regulatory foresight at the seed stage, critical for navigating the complex compliance landscape of nuclear materials.
Product-First Differentiation: While incumbents like Orano focus on the fuel cycle for reactors, Omega differentiates by productizing isotopes into “batteries”—long-duration power sources for defense and space applications.
Defense-First GTM: The company is initially targeting national security applications (sensors, drones, wearables) rather than consumer markets. This strategy leverages the Department of Defense’s need for logistical energy independence while bypassing immediate consumer safety hurdles.
Company and Investment Snapshot
Project Omega is a seed-stage startup headquartered in Rhode Island, founded in 2025 to commercialize nuclear waste recycling.
The company is capitalized to reach deployable prototypes rather than heavy infrastructure builds, utilizing a capital-efficient model supported by national laboratories.
Investment Profile
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $12 Million (Seed) |
| Valuation | ~$50 Million (Estimated) |
| Announcement | February 11, 2026 |
| Lead Investor | Starship Ventures |
| Key Participants | Mantis Ventures, Buckley Ventures, Slow Ventures |
Mission and Vision
Project Omega’s mission is to “rebuild America’s nuclear fuel cycle end-to-end”. The U.S. currently treats spent nuclear fuel as a liability; Omega aims to convert this material into a strategic asset for national security and economic growth.
The company’s vision operates on two timelines:
- Near-Term: Create long-duration, high-density power sources (“batteries”) from recovered radioisotopes.
- Long-Term: Supply critical materials and fuel to the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry, effectively closing the fuel cycle.
Technology and Validation
Project Omega’s core technology involves a chemical separation and conversion process that has already achieved proof-of-concept status within the U.S. national laboratory system.
The Technical Workflow
The company employs a multi-stage process to convert waste into electricity:
- Separation: Established chemical separation techniques are used to recover valuable radioisotopes, such as strontium-90, from spent nuclear fuel. This separation and refining work is conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
- Conversion: The heat or radiation emitted by these isotopes is converted into electricity using semiconductor-based devices.
- Validation: The material is turned into products and tested at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
Lab-Verified Performance
Crucially, PNNL has already begun testing and evaluating Omega’s system. The lab successfully produced a “working proof of concept within months,” explicitly measuring electrical power output from the material..
Product Strategy
Project Omega is pursuing a phased product strategy that prioritizes high-value, professional use cases over immediate consumer availability.
Phase 1: National Security and Defense
The initial go-to-market focus is on “power sources the military can use for wearables, sensors, drones and more”.
- Form Factor: The company aims to produce drop-in power sources resembling common AA or AAA batteries, or smaller cells.
- Value Prop: These devices offer long-duration power for applications where recharging is difficult or impossible, addressing the military’s need for energy independence and logistical simplicity.
Phase 2 & 3: Specialized and Consumer Markets
Beyond defense, Omega targets remote deep-sea sensing and space exploration, which are sectors that require resilient, maintenance-free power. While the company has a “consumer approach” and a long-term vision for consumer use, this is a future horizon dependent on regulatory maturation and safety scaling.
Government & Lab Partnerships
| Partner | Role & Contribution |
|---|---|
| Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) | Actively testing and evaluating the power system; produced the working proof of concept. |
| Idaho National Laboratory (INL) | Engaged for the separation and refining of spent nuclear fuel. |
| ARPA-E (DOE) | Partnering via contract to demonstrate a safe, commercially viable pathway for recycling. |
Market Problem & Opportunity
The United States lacks a commercial-scale solution for recycling spent nuclear fuel, leaving vast amounts of energy stored as waste. Project Omega addresses this by turning the waste problem into a supply chain for two distinct markets:
- Energy Storage: Providing “decades-long power” for military systems and autonomous devices.
- Nuclear Fuel Supply: Recovering critical materials to fuel the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors.
CEO Staff Sheehan frames this as an infrastructure play, stating, “We’re the picks and shovels of the nuclear gold rush”.
Competitive Landscape
Project Omega differentiates itself through a product-focused “consumer approach” rather than a traditional utility-service model.
| Competitor | Type | Focus | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Omega | Startup | Batteries/Devices | Uses isotopes to create tangible power sources (batteries) for immediate defense/device use. |
| Orano | Incumbent | Fuel Cycle Services | French government-backed giant focused on large-scale fuel recycling for reactors. |
| Oklo / Curio | Startups | Reactors/Fuel | Focused on creating fuel specifically for advanced reactors (a longer, more capital-intensive path). |
While competitors like Orano focus on the macro fuel cycle, Omega is creating a new product category (nuclear batteries) that can generate revenue independently of the deployment of new nuclear reactors.
Risks and Challenges
Technical Scaling: While PNNL has validated the concept, packaging radioisotopes into safe, mass-producible AA/AAA form factors remains a significant engineering challenge.
Regulatory Perception: Despite having the former NRC Chair on the team, deploying nuclear materials in “consumer-like” form factors will face intense scrutiny regarding safety and disposal.
Dependency: The company currently relies on INL and PNNL for processing and testing.
Scaling will eventually require developing independent infrastructure or securing guaranteed long-term capacity at these labs.
TL;DR
Project Omega is attempting to bridge the gap between nuclear waste management and portable energy storage.
Through successful early validation from national labs and recruiting top-tier regulatory talent, the company has de-risked the initial phases of its development.
Its success will depend on its ability to transition from lab-scale proofs of concept to fielded military pilots, effectively creating a new category of “nuclear batteries” before expanding into the broader fuel cycle market.
References
- Project Omega Emerges From Stealth to Recycle America’s Spent Nuclear Fuel. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260211071777/en/Project-Omega-Emerges-From-Stealth-to-Recycle-Americas-Spent-Nuclear-Fuel
- Exclusive: Nuclear fuel recycling startup Project Omega raises $12M. https://www.axios.com/2026/02/11/project-omega-stealth-nuclear-fuel
- Startup plans to develop long-lasting nuclear batteries – E&E News by POLITICO. https://www.eenews.net/articles/startup-plans-to-develop-long-lasting-nuclear-batteries/
- This Startup Wants To Turn America’s Nuclear Waste Into Power. https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2026/02/11/this-project-omega-startup-staff-sheehan-nuclear-waste-fuel-power/
- This Startup Wants To Turn America’s Nuclear Waste Into …. https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2026/02/10/this-project-omega-startup-staff-sheehan-nuclear-waste-fuel-power/
- Venture: The Next Wave of Hard Tech | FWS 2025. https://www.fortworthinvestmentsymposium.com/venturethenextwaveofhardtech
- Christopher Hanson – Capstone DC. https://capstonedc.com/team-member/christopher-hanson/
- Project Omega. https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-omega-hq/
- Project Omega Emerges From Stealth to Recycle America’s Spent Nuclear Fuel | News | bakersfield.com. https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/news/project-omega-emerges-from-stealth-to-recycle-america-s-spent-nuclear-fuel/article_c1487135-c6fd-5580-9192-eae62b12fe14.html
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