Nuclea Energy has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Moltex Energy’s advanced nuclear technology portfolio, gaining a platform spanning used nuclear fuel recycling and advanced reactor technologies.
The acquisition follows a competitive bidding process that Moltex said attracted significant interest in the company and its intellectual property.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The portfolio includes Moltex’s Waste to Stable Salt, or WATSS, used nuclear fuel recycling process, Stable Salt Reactor – Wasteburner technology, and FLEX reactor technology.
The intellectual property includes 80 granted patents across nine patent families as well as nine pending patents covering the WATSS recycling process.
More than C$96 million of private and Canadian and U.S. public-sector funding has been committed to the development of the technologies over more than a decade.
Nuclea is acquiring the platform as governments, utilities, and investors increase their focus on advanced nuclear power amid rising electricity demand, energy security concerns, and growing interest in closing the nuclear fuel cycle.
One of the central opportunities involves extracting additional energy from used nuclear fuel.
Although spent fuel is commonly managed as nuclear waste, substantial quantities of potentially usable material and energy remain within it.
Moltex’s WATSS technology is being developed as a way to recycle used nuclear fuel, reduce long-term waste inventories, and produce fuel suitable for advanced reactors.
Recent development work included successful testing of WATSS using actual used CANDU fuel at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
The technology has been developed with support from governments, utilities, laboratories, and engineering organizations across Canada, the U.S., and other international markets.
Nuclea sees the acquisition as a way to add an advanced reactor and fuel-cycle platform to its growing nuclear technology portfolio.
Under the agreement, Nuclea Energy Canada will acquire the relevant technology assets and subsidiaries from Moltex Energy Limited, which is currently in administration.
The transaction remains subject to closing conditions, including required approval under the U.K.’s National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Following completion, Nuclea plans to retain Moltex Energy Canada as a focused research, engineering, and regulatory-development organization.
That team will continue advancing the acquired technologies as Nuclea works to position them for future commercialization.
The acquisition comes at a time when rapidly rising demand for dependable low-carbon electricity is renewing interest in nuclear power, including smaller and more flexible reactor designs.
It also reflects growing attention to nuclear fuel recycling as countries seek to reduce waste while extracting more value from existing fuel resources.
KEY QUOTES:
“This is a very exciting outcome for Moltex and an important recognition of the value created by our team, shareholders, partners and supporters over more than a decade. We were delighted by the level of interest generated through the competitive process.”
“The timing could hardly be better: nuclear energy is experiencing extraordinary momentum globally, and used nuclear fuel is increasingly being recognized not simply as a waste liability, but as an enormous strategic energy resource. Nuclea provides a strong platform from which to build on what we have achieved and take these technologies into their next phase.”
Rory O’Sullivan, CEO of Moltex Energy
“Nuclea sees considerable long-term potential in the technology and expertise developed by Moltex. The acquisition will add an important advanced reactor and nuclear fuel-cycle platform to Nuclea as we build a broader portfolio of technologies for the rapidly expanding nuclear market.”
Josef Freundorfer, CEO of Nuclea Energy
