Decommissioning & Remediation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading filers hold 58.1% of all 62 records in scope, and the top ten hold 87.1% — a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants fills the rest.
- Shielding and measurement dominate the claim map. G21F radiation shielding (35.5% of records) and G01T radiation measurement (33.9%) together anchor the field, while cleaning, corrosion and chemical detox each sit under 10%.
- Filing pace has cooled since its 2018 peak. Annual filings ran 5 in 2021 down to 2 in 2024, a -60% move over that span, with 2018 as the high point at 6 filings so far recorded.
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (2) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 62 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent activity at the intersection of nuclear decommissioning and remediation with core reactor hardware — reactor coolant systems, fuel assemblies, radiation fields, safety barriers and reactor vessels. The scope spans 62 published records filed or published between 2015 and the August 2026 data cut-off, drawn from a search string that pairs decommissioning and remediation terms with the physical systems being decommissioned. It captures both the engineering side — cutting, segmenting, decontaminating — and the measurement and financial instruments that surround end-of-life reactor work.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate true filing activity; 2024 is treated here as the last complete year for growth comparisons. Family-level counting is used throughout so continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction copies of the same invention are not double-counted.
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Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 62-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the technology shares sum to well over 100% of the record total.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings peaked at 6 in 2018 and have since declined, with 2021 at 5 falling to 2 by 2024 (-60%). 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in as publications catch up with filing dates, so they should not be read as a continued drop.
IPC subclass composition
G21F (radiation protection and shielding) and G01T (radiation and X-radiation measurement) each cover roughly a third of the 62 records, making them the two largest technical clusters. G21D (nuclear power plants), G06F and G06Q (digital data processing and business/admin processing) sit in the 11-13% band, while cleaning (B08B), corrosion and metal removal (C23F) and chemical detox (A62D) each account for under 10% of records.
Shares are the percentage of the 62 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Decommissioning & Remediation Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about decommissioning & remediation patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in the field
Systems and methods for nuclear reactor vessel segmenting
Nuclear reactor vessel segmenting utilizing improved arc saw systems and methods.Filed by ARC SAW TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, published 2016-11-17 as US20160336084A1 — the most-cited record in this dataset with 30 citations.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160336084A1 | Systems and methods for nuclear reactor vessel segmenting | 30 |
| 2 | US20170261623A1 | High speed gamma imaging device | 29 |
| 3 | US5523513A | Decontamination processes | 29 |
| 4 | US6772128B2 | Nuclear decommissioning insurance financial product and method | 28 |
| 5 | US20120138806A1 | Novel radiation detector | 24 |
| 6 | US20040088202A1 | Nuclear decommissioning insurance financial product and method | 22 |
| 7 | US6164072A | Method and apparatus for matching a secondary steam supply to a main steam supply of a nuclear or thermal ren… | 21 |
| 8 | WO2016183388A1 | Systems and methods for nuclear reactor vessel segmenting | 14 |
| 9 | CN112906227A | 一种辐射环境下的核退役虚拟仿真系统 | 12 |
| 10 | CN109190144A | 一种任意形状放射源辐射屏蔽计算仿真方法 | 10 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to accumulate references, so treat this as a measure of influence within the corpus rather than of current technical importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three findings that shape where new claims stand a chance and where they run into dense prior art.
The top of the field is tight, the rest is thin
Five assignees hold well over half of all records in scope, and ten hold nearly nine in ten. Below that line, filing drops to single digits per company — a long tail of one-off and few-filing entrants rather than a second tier of active competitors.
Shielding and measurement are the crowded lanes
Radiation protection and shielding claims and radiation measurement claims each touch roughly a third of the 62 records, making these the densest prior-art zones in the dataset. Cleaning, corrosion removal and chemical decontamination each sit under 10%, suggesting comparatively lighter claim coverage.
Filing pace has cooled from its 2018 peak
Annual filings ran at 6 in 2018, the highest point recorded, then fell from 5 in 2021 to 2 in 2024. That three-year decline is the last stretch that can be read reliably; 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete due to publication lag.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to decommissioning & remediation patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the collaboration sits
The leader in this dataset holds 12 records; by fifth place that has fallen to 5, and by tenth place to 2 — a steep drop-off that marks a small core group surrounded by occasional filers. A handful of co-assignee pairs point to specific working relationships rather than broad industry-wide collaboration.
One filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee's record count is more than double the fifth-place holder's, setting it apart from the rest of the ranked list rather than sitting at the top of a tightly bunched group.
A modest second tier
Filing counts drop quickly outside the leader — fifth place holds 5 records and tenth place holds just 2, meaning most of the ranked 23 companies are single- or double-digit filers at most.
A small, specific collaboration network
Nine co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest linking the same three individual inventors across multiple combinations — a sign of a tight working group rather than a broad industry consortium.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Nexia Solutions Ltd. | 0 | — |
| PACTEC INC | 0 | — |
| STANLEY STEVEN JOHN | 0 | — |
| LAGUARDIA & ASSOCIATES LLC | 0 | — |
| British Nuclear Fuels plc | 0 | — |
| American International Group, Inc. | 0 | — |
| NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY | 0 | — |
| JENNESON PAUL MICHAEL | 0 | — |
Where to take this from here
This landscape gives a static read of 62 records. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or spotting where to file next.
Check claim scope against the most-cited records
The highest-citation filings in this dataset, including the reactor vessel segmenting patent, are a practical starting point for a freedom-to-operate review before committing to a filing strategy in shielding or measurement.
Explore claim charts in EurekaWatch the under-claimed branches
Cleaning, corrosion removal and chemical decontamination each cover under 10% of records — light enough that a well-drafted first claim could still stake meaningful ground.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack the leading filers' recent activity
With filing pace down from its 2018 peak, it is worth checking whether the leading assignees are shifting effort toward adjacent technology rather than simply filing less.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads this dataset with 12 records, well ahead of the rest of the ranked field — by fifth place the count has already dropped to 5. The ranking covers 23 companies in total, and the top five combined hold 58.1% of all 62 records in scope, with the top ten holding 87.1%. Below the top tier, most companies appear as single- or few-filing entrants rather than sustained programmes.
Radiation protection and shielding (IPC class G21F) and radiation measurement (G01T) are the two largest clusters, each covering roughly a third of the 62 records in scope. Nuclear power plant systems (G21D) and digital or business data processing (G06F, G06Q) form a second band around 11-13%. Cleaning, corrosion removal and chemical decontamination each sit under 10%, marking them as comparatively lighter-claimed areas.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 6 records and has since cooled, falling from 5 filings in 2021 to 2 in 2024 — a 60% decline over that three-year span. That said, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued drop. 2024 is the most recent year that can be treated as a complete data point.
The most-cited record in this dataset is US20160336084A1, "Systems and methods for nuclear reactor vessel segmenting," filed by ARC SAW TECHNOLOGIES, LLC and published on 2016-11-17. It has accumulated 30 citations within this corpus, the highest of any record tracked here, and describes arc saw-based systems and methods for segmenting reactor vessels during decommissioning. Its citation count reflects the age and influence of the filing rather than any claim to current market dominance.
The lighter-claimed branches in this dataset are cleaning methods, corrosion and metal removal techniques, and chemical decontamination formulations, each covering under 10% of the 62 records compared to over 30% for shielding and measurement. These branches sit adjacent to the dense clusters but have not attracted the same density of filings. A first claim in coolant-circuit cleaning or decontamination chemistry, for example, would face far less crowded prior art than one written around radiation shielding or measurement.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.