New York company welcomes ‘major advancement’ in nuclear plant development
US-based nuclear reactor technology company Nano Nuclear Energy has assembled the first reactor core hardware of its Zeus micro-modular reactor (MMR) for initial non-nuclear testing.
The assembled hardware consists of a 1:2 scale block, precisely engineered to be representative of a fuel element of the Zeus microreactor core.
The New York-headquartered company said the milestone represents a major advancement in its continued development of its proprietary microreactor technology.
Zeus, a solid core battery reactor, is being developed by Nano Nuclear as part of the next generation of portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors to provide clean, scalable power for data centres, remote locations, industrial sites, military operations, and disaster relief scenarios.
The company said the successful validation of the reactor core through scaled testing will position it to “advance toward full prototype construction and licensing efforts in the coming years”.
The initial testing phase will focus on the assessment of the thermo-mechanical performance of the block under anticipated prototypical conditions for Zeus. The results will be crucial for verifying engineering plans, refining physics models, and optimising Zeus core and heat management systems.
Nano Nuclear Energy recently closed an $8m (€7.7m) deal to acquire the major assets of the bankrupt Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, a midsize startup that was developing microreactor technology and advanced nuclear fuel.
Nano’s reactor products in development include the Kronos MMR Energy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, the Zeus solid core battery reactor, Odin, a low-pressure coolant reactor, and the portable Loki MMR, which is designed for space applications.
