TAMPA, Fla. — Zeno Power has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Orano, a French nuclear recycler, to lock in a steady supply of americium-241 (Am-241) to fuel the U.S. startup’s long-duration space batteries.

The deal gives Zeno priority access to material recovered from used nuclear fuel in France, the Seattle-based venture announced Sept. 24, addressing a gap left by the scarcity of the plutonium-238 (Pu-238) isotope behind many NASA deep space missions.

Zeno said Am-241 is attractive because it occurs naturally in used nuclear fuel and has a half-life of more than 430 years, enabling power systems to operate for decades.

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