| ADS | accelerator-driven system |
| AEC | Atomic Energy Commission |
| AFC | Advanced Fuels Campaign |
| AFCI | Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative |
| AGR | advanced gas reactor |
| AIP | American Institute of Physics |
| AIROX | Atomics International Reduction Oxidation |
| ALWR | advanced light water reactor |
| ANDRA | National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (L’Agence Nationale pour la gestion des Déchets RadioActifs) (France) |
| ANL | Argonne National Laboratory |
| ANS | American Nuclear Society |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute |
| ARC | Advanced Reactor Concept |
| ARDP | Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program |
| ARPA-E | Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy |
| ARS | advanced reactor safeguards |
| ASTRID | Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration |
| ATF | accident-tolerant fuel |
| ATR | Advanced Test Reactor |
| AVR | Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor (Joint Working Group Experimental Reactor) (Germany) |
| AVR-TLK | dry storage canister (Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe) (Germany) |
| B205 | Alternative name for Magnox Reprocessing Plant at Sellafield (United Kingdom) |
| BANR | BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor |
| BCG | Boston Consulting Group |
| BISO | bistructural isotropic particle fuel |
| BN | fast sodium (reactor) (БН - Быстрый Натриевый) (in Russian abbreviations) |
| BNFL | British Nuclear Fuels Limited |
| BNL | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
| BRC | 2012 Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future |
| BREST-OD | Lead-cooled fast reactor—Experimental Demonstration (БРЕСТ-ОД–Быстрый Реактор Естественной безопасности со Свинцовым Теплоносителем—Опытно-Демонстрационный (in Russian abbreviations) |
| BWR | boiling water reactor |
| BWXT | Originally Babcock and Wilcox Technologies |
| C/S | containment and surveillance |
| CANDU | Canadian Deuterium Uranium |
| CARBOWASTE | European Commission’s Carbonaceous Waste program |
| CB&I | CB&I Areva MOX Services, LLC, in 2002, now MOX Services, LLC, formerly known as Chicago Bridge and Ironworks |
| CBO | U.S. Congressional Budget Office |
| CEA | Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives) (France) |
| CEFR | China Experimental Fast Reactor |
| CFR | United States Code of Federal Regulations |
| CIGEO | Industrial Centre for Geological Disposal (Centre Industriel de Stockage GEOlogique) (France) |
| CNSC | Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission |
| COEX™ | Co-extraction of uranium and plutonium |
| CORAIL | fuel assembly design contains both LEU and MOX rods (COmbustible Recyclage A ILot) (France) |
| CPF | chemical process facility |
| CPP | chemical processing plant |
| CPPNM | 1979 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (international treaty) and the 2005 Amendment |
| CR | conversion ratio |
| CRBR | Clinch River Breeder Reactor |
| CRS | Congressional Research Service |
| CSA | comprehensive safeguard agreement |
| CTR | CarboThermic Reduction |
| CTR-N | CarboThermic Reduction of uranium oxide followed by Nitridation (synthesis) |
| D&D | decontamination and decommissioning |
| DA | destructive analysis |
| DBT | design basis threat |
| DECON | decontamination (and dismantling) (decommissioning strategy) |
| DIAMEX | diamide extraction |
| DNFSB | Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board |
| DNN | Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (within the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration) |
| DOC | U.S. Department of Commerce |
| DOD | U.S. Department of Defense |
| DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
| DOE-NE | U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy |
| DOS | U.S. Department of State |
| dpa | displacements per atom |
| EBR | experimental breeder reactor |
| EC | European Commission |
| EDF | Électricité de France, electric utility company |
| EFL | Eligible Facilities List |
| EG | evaluation group (of fuel cycle) |
| Eh | reduction-oxidation (redox) potential versus the standard hydrogen electrode |
| EIA | U.S. Energy Information Administration |
| EIS | Environmental Impact Statement |
| EMT | electrometallurgical treatment |
| ENTOMB | radioactive elements are entombed on site, such as with concrete (decommissioning strategy) |
| EPA | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| EPACT | Energy Policy Act of 2005 |
| EPR | European Pressurized Water Reactor |
| EPRI | Electric Power Research Institute |
| ESA | European Supply Agency |
| EU | enriched uranium |
| eV | electron volt |
| EXAm | EXtraction (recovery) of Americium (process) |
| FBR | fast breeder reactor |
| FBR-MOX | fast breeder reactor-mixed oxide |
| FCCI | fuel-cladding chemical interaction |
| FFH | fusion-fission hybrids |
| FFTF | Fast Flux Test Facility |
| FHR | fluoride-cooled high-temperature reactor |
| fima | fissions per initial metal atom |
| FLiBe | lithium fluoride (LiF) and beryllium fluoride (BeF), includes 2LiF-BeF2 and 7Li2BeF4 |
| FONSI | Finding of No Significant Impact |
| FP | fission product |
| FR | fast reactor |
| FR-MOX | fast reactor-mixed oxide (fuel) |
| FSV | Fort St. Vrain (reactor site) |
| FY | fiscal year |
| GA | General Atomics |
| GAIN | Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear |
| GANEX | Grouped ActiNide EXtraction (process) |
| GAO | U.S. Government Accountability Office |
| GE | General Electric |
| GEH | General Electric Hitachi |
| GFR | gas-cooled fast reactor |
| GIF | Generation-IV International Forum |
| GMODS | Glass Material Oxidation and Dissolution System |
| GNEP | Global Nuclear Energy Partnership |
| GRAPA | GRAphite Processing Approaches |
| GSG | IAEA’s General Safety Guide |
| GTCC | Greater than Class C |
| GWd | gigawatt-day |
| GWe | gigawatt electrical |
| Gy | gray |
| H-D-N | hydride-dehydride-nitride (synthesis) |
| HAC | hypothetical accident conditions |
| HALEU | high-assay low-enriched uranium |
| HDND | high-dose neutron detector |
| HEPA | high efficiency particulate air (filter) |
| HEU | highly enriched uranium |
| HI-STORE | Holtec International-Storage (Consolidated Interim Storage Facility) |
| HLRW | high-level radioactive waste |
| HLW | high-level (radioactive) waste |
| HM | heavy metal |
| HT | high tensile (steel coding) |
| HTGR | high-temperature gas-cooled reactor |
| HTR | high-temperature (gas-cooled) reactor |
| HTR-PM | high-temperature (gas-cooled) reactor—pebble-bed modular |
| I-NERI | International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative |
| IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency |
| IFR | Integral Fast Reactor |
| ILW | intermediate-level waste |
| IMMONET | IAEA repository for data and reports for irradiated graphite (knowledge network) |
| IMSR | integral molten salt reactor |
| INEPC | Office of International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation (within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy) |
| INFCIRC | International Atomic Energy Agency’s Information Circular (news communication) |
| INL | Idaho National Laboratory |
| INS | Office of International Nuclear Safeguards (within the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration) |
| IPFM | International Panel on Fissile Materials |
| iPWR | integral pressurized water reactor |
| IPyC | internal pyrolytic carbon |
| ISFSI | Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation |
| J | joule |
| JAEA | Japan Atomic Energy Agency |
| JCO | Japan Consulting Office, formerly Japan Nuclear Fuel Conversion Co. |
| JNFL | Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited |
| KAERI | Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute |
| KBS | nuclear fuel safety (kärnbränslesäkerhet) (Sweden) |
| keff | effective neutron multiplication factor |
| kgHM | kilogram heavy metal |
| KP-FHR | Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled High Temperature Reactor |
| KTH | Kungliga Tekniska högskolan (Royal Institute of Technology) (Sweden) |
| ky | kilo years (1,000 years) |
| LANL | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| LCC | liquid cadmium cathode |
| LCOE | levelized cost of electricity |
| LEU | low-enriched uranium |
| LFR | lead-cooled fast reactor |
| LFTR | liquid fluoride thorium reactor |
| LLEA | local law enforcement agencies |
| LLFP | long-lived fission products |
| LLNL | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| LLRW | low-level radioactive waste |
| LLW | low-level (radioactive) waste |
| LWR | light water reactor |
| LWT | legal weight truck (cask) |
| M | mega (as in MCi = megacurie) |
| m3 | cubic meters |
| MA | minor actinides |
| MC&A | material control and accounting |
| MCFR | molten chloride fast reactor |
| MCi | megacurie |
| MCRE | Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment |
| MeV | mega electron volt |
| MFFF | MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility |
| Mg | megagram |
| MIGHTR | modular integrated gas-cooled high temperature reactor |
| MIT | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| MOX | mixed oxide |
| MOXEUS | Mixed OXide Enriched Uranium Support, also known as MIX (MIxed oXide [enriched uranium support]) |
| MPACT | Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (U.S. Department of Energy campaign) |
| MRIE | maximum routine inspection effort |
| MSR | molten salt reactor |
| MSR-Cl | molten salt reactor—chloride |
| MSR-F | molten salt reactor—fluoride |
| MT | metric ton |
| MTHM | metric tons heavy metal |
| MTU | metric ton of uranium |
| MTW | Honeywell Metropolis Works (conversion plant) |
| MUF | material unaccounted for |
| MWd | megawatt-day |
| MWe | megawatts electric |
| MWh | megawatt hour |
| MWth | megawatts thermal |
| n-stamp | nuclear qualified firm |
| NAC | NAC International, Inc. (formerly Nuclear Assurance Corporation) |
| NAE | National Academy of Engineering |
| NAGRA | National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAtionale Genossenschaft fuer die lagerung Radioaktiver Abfaella) (Switzerland) |
| NASAP | U.S. Department of Energy’s Nonproliferation Alternative Systems Assessment Program |
| NDA | nondestructive assay |
| NEA-OECD | Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| NEAC | Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee |
| NED | nuclear explosive device |
| NEI | Nuclear Engineering International |
| NEICA | Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act of 2017 |
| NEIMA | Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act of 2019 |
| NEM | nuclear-explosive material |
| NEXT | New EXtraction system for TRU Recovery (process) |
| NFCE&S | nuclear fuel cycle evaluation and screening |
| NFWG | Nuclear Fuel Working Group |
| NGSAM (red) | Next Generation Systems Analysis Model |
| NHI | Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative |
| NNL | National Nuclear Laboratory |
| NNSA | National Nuclear Security Administration |
| NPM | NuScale Power Module |
| NPR | nuclear power reactor |
| NPT | 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons |
| NUREG | Nuclear Regulatory Report (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) |
| NWPA | Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 |
| NWTRB | Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| ONWARDS | Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy program) |
| OPyC | outer pyrolytic carbon |
| ORNL | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| OTA | Office of Technology Assessment |
| OTC | once-through cycle |
| P&T | partitioning and transmutation |
| PBq | petabecquerel |
| PBR | pebble-bed reactor |
| pH | scale of acidity or alkalinity (base) (potenz hydrogen, respectively) |
| PM | pebble-bed module |
| PPE | personal protective equipment |
| PRISM | Power Reactor Innovative Small Module |
| PUREX | plutonium uranium reduction extraction |
| PWR | pressurized water reactor |
| PyC | pyrolytic carbon |
| Q-brine | quinary salt mine brine |
| R&D | research and development |
| rad | radiation absorbed dose |
| RE | reactive elements (Fe-10Cr-4Al-RE) |
| rem | equivalent dose (Roentgen Equivalent Man [or human]) (predominantly United States) |
| REMIX fuel | REgenerated MIXture of U-Pu oxides |
| RIS | regulatory issue summaries (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) |
| RRP | Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (Japan) |
| RT | radiotoxicity |
| S&T | separation and transmutation |
| SAFSTOR | SAFe STORage deferred dismantling (decommissioning strategy) |
| SANEX | Selective ActiNide Extraction |
| SC-HGTR | Framatome’s Steam-Cooled High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor |
| SCKCEN | StudieCentrum voor Kernenergie·Centre d’Etudes Nucléaire (Belgium) |
| SCWR | supercritical water-cooled reactor |
| SDO | standards developing organization |
| SEALER | SwEdish Advanced LEad Reactor |
| SECY | commission paper (SECretarY of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) |
| SFR | sodium-cooled fast reactor |
| SISUS | Subgroup on IAEA Safeguards in the United States |
| SMR | small modular reactor |
| SNF/HLW | spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste |
| SNL | Sandia National Laboratories |
| SNM | special nuclear materials |
| SQ | significant quantities (of special nuclear materials) |
| SRS | Savannah River Site |
| SSAC | State System of Accounting for and Control (of nuclear material) |
| SSNM | strategic special nuclear materials |
| SSR-W | stable salt reactor—wasteburner |
| STATS report | acronym for separations technology and transmutation systems, the 1996 National Research Council report, Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation |
| SUBATECH | Subatomic Physics and Associated Technologies (Laboratoire de Physique SUBAtomique et des TECHnologies Associées) (France) |
| Sv | Sieverts |
| SVBR | Lead-Bismuth Fast Reactor (SVBR—Свинцово-Висмутовый Быстрый Реактор) (in Russian abbreviations) |
| SWU | separative work unit |
| t1/2 | half-life (of a radioactive substance) |
| TALSPEAK | Trivalent Actinide Lanthanide Separation with Phosphorus-reagent Extraction from Aqueous Komplexes |
| TBP | tributyl phosphate |
| TBq | terabecquerel |
| TECDOC | International Atomic Energy Agency’s TEChnical DOCument |
| TENEX | uranium products supplier (Techsnabexport (Техснабэкспорт) (Russia) |
| THORP | THermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant |
| TRISO | TRistructural ISOtropic |
| TRL | technical readiness level |
| TRU | transuranic elements |
| TRUEX | TRansUranium Extraction (process) |
| U3O8 | triuranium octoxide |
| UC | uranium carbide |
| UCO | uranium oxycarbide |
| Udep | depleted uranium |
| UF6 | uranium hexafluoride |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNF | used nuclear fuel |
| UO2 | uranium dioxide |
| UOX | uranium oxide |
| Urep | reprocessed uranium |
| UREX | uranium recovery by extraction |
| U.S. NRC | U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
| U.S.C. | United States Code of Law |
| VHTR | very high-temperature reactor |
| VOA | voluntary offer agreement |
| VTR | versatile test reactor |
| W/THM | watts per ton of heavy metal |
| WIPP | Waste Isolation Pilot Plant |
| WNA | World Nuclear Association |
| WNN | World Nuclear News |
| WTP | Waste Treatment Plant |
| WVDP | West Valley Demonstration Project |