Today, privately-held clean energy company Moltex Energy announced it joined the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Indeed, the latter is the largest and most prominent trade association for the nuclear industry in the United States.
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Reception and about Moltex Energy work
In this sense, Maria Korsnick, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nuclear Energy Institute, commented; “We are delighted to have Moltex join NEI at this important time for the US nuclear industry. Thus, small modular reactors, such as the one Moltex is developing, will be critical; particularly, for supporting the future US electric grid with carbon-free energy, and boosting the economy with long-term, well-paying jobs.”
In fact, and it is worth noting, Moltex is developing a Stable Salt Reactor – Wasteburner (SSR-W). Specifically, this reactor runs on recycled nuclear waste and a WAste To Stable Salt (WATSS) nuclear waste recycling facility.
According to Moltex, this is particularly important, since in the US, by the time the current fleet of nuclear reactors reach the end of life, there will be enough nuclear waste to power approximately 20 GW of SSR-W units.
Accordingly, Rory O’Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, North America, Moltex Energy, said in a media release; “Indeed, our technology is very well-suited to the US market, given their significant and growing stockpiles of nuclear waste. Therefore, with our technology, we can turn nuclear waste that would otherwise be destined for expensive, long-term storage into more clean energy.”
Simultaneously, the company acknowledged that considerable research and development is already ongoing in the US. Thus, with a combined USD 7M in funding from the US Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E); Moltex is working on validation experiments.
Advancing nuclear energy collaborations
Hence, the company collaborates with Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Electric Power Research Institute, Purdue University, and Vanderbilt University.
Similarly, Moltex also recently received CAD 50.5M from the Government of Canada to progress its technology development.
Therefore, the company is building its first-of-a-kind SSR-W and WATSS facility in New Brunswick, Canada. In fact, in 2018, NB Power and the Government of New Brunswick selected Moltex to develop its technology in the region. Particularly, the project could start commercial operation next to the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.
Lastly, other notable markets for Moltex include France (9 GW of SSR-W units), Japan (8 GW), South Korea (5 GW), and the UK (5 GW).
