3D Systems and Savannah River Lab Partner on Nuclear 3D Printing

3D Systems has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Savannah River National Laboratory that puts additive manufacturing into the nuclear energy and national security supply chain.

The agreement, signed August 27 at SRNL's Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative in South Carolina, focuses on materials development, equipment upgrades, AI-driven process optimization, and workforce training. The goal is to move 3D-printed nuclear components from lab samples to production-ready parts.

SRNL brings deep expertise in nuclear materials and environmental stewardship. 3D Systems contributes its commercial AM platforms and materials science. Together, the partnership will work on high-temperature nickel-based superalloys, radiation-tolerant materials, and complex geometries like heat exchangers with internal cooling channels. Those parts are difficult or impossible to make with conventional manufacturing.

The collaboration also has an explicit workforce component. 3D Systems equipment is already installed at the AMC facility, and the plan includes training the next generation of AM engineers and technicians. That is not just a footnote: the agreement specifically ties research output to skills transfer.

For the nuclear industry, this kind of partnership matters. Advanced reactor designs and small modular reactors are driving demand for manufacturing methods that can shorten development cycles and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. The International Energy Agency projects small modular reactor capacity could reach 40 to 120 gigawatts by 2050, depending on policy choices. Parts for those reactors need to be qualified, and 3D printing offers a path to faster qualification cycles.

3D Systems is not new to nuclear. The company has supplied AM solutions to aerospace and defense for decades. This CRADA formalizes that presence in the nuclear sector and gives SRNL a commercial partner that can scale proven processes beyond the lab.