LONDON and CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viaro Energy (“Viaro”), the independent British energy company operating in the UK and the Netherlands North Sea, and Terrestrial Energy, a US technology company committed to delivering reliable, emission-free, and cost-competitive nuclear energy with a transformative advanced reactor, the Integral Molten Salt Reactor (“IMSR”), are pleased to announce a strategic partnership to develop an industry-leading IMSR project in the United Kingdom.
Viaro and Terrestrial Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) to work collaboratively on the deployment of Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR plant technology for a broad range of potential industrial applications, including powering data centers for AI. These applications currently rely on fossil fuels to drive energy-intensive processes, for which an IMSR plant offers a scalable, carbon-free replacement.
Viaro and Terrestrial Energy will collaborate to capture commercial opportunities from fast-growing demand for nuclear’s clean, firm electric power and industrial heat. They will initially evaluate siting, regulatory, macroeconomic and policy factors to confirm the viability of the project, before proceeding to identification of target sites, followed by detailed evaluation and site selection. The two companies intend to form a joint venture for the delivery of the IMSR plant project in the UK, with Viaro providing the infrastructure and investment for the deployment, and Terrestrial Energy leading the nuclear system development and procurement activities.
While the timelines for the project are dependent on various external factors, which will be assessed at agreed-upon milestones, the parties anticipate the project will reach a Final Investment Decision in 2030. An IMSR plant would create over 120 jobs when in operation, with many more during construction and in the plant supply chain.
“I am immensely pleased about the strategic partnership with Terrestrial Energy. We have now spent a year conducting market research of the different nuclear technology providers, and we believe Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR technology is among the most competitive ones currently out there,” said Francesco Mazzagatti, CEO of Viaro Energy. “The Terrestrial Energy team has successfully circumnavigated a lot of the production and supply chain challenges that other companies struggle with, such as fuel supply, and their experience in this sphere is impressive. Viaro has long stated its intentions to support the energy transition in a stable and strategic manner, and we continue to view safe nuclear energy as the most promising response to addressing climate change.”
“Viaro and Terrestrial Energy share a strategic vision that a large expansion of nuclear energy supply is required to achieve energy security and net-zero emission goals and that small and modular power plants employing advanced Generation IV technologies, such as IMSR can lead this expansion,” said Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy. “Viaro has been successfully growing its market footprint in a core industrial sector while embracing the need for the energy transition, and we are excited about the potential that this partnership holds. With this MoU, we will work together on a project to select a site and an industrial application, which when completed would benchmark the capabilities of our IMSR plant and its potential for many other sites and applications.”
In August 2023, Terrestrial Energy signed a contract with Springfields Fuels Limited, a subsidiary of Westinghouse, for the design and construction of an IMSR fuel pilot plant. The Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing site in Preston, United Kingdom, has extensive infrastructure available to support the fuel supply for IMSR development, and scalable to support a fleet of IMSR plants operating in the 2030s.
The IMSR plant uses Standard Assay Low-Enriched Uranium enriched below 5% uranium-235, rather than High Assay Low-Enriched Uranium enriched to 5 to 20% uranium-235. The former is used in conventional nuclear power plant fuel and is the only fuel available and transportable today for civilian reactor use and has international regulatory acceptance. Its use supports an early deployment path for IMSR plants across multiple markets, including providing clean, firm power for industrial and data center use in the US and European markets.
About Viaro Energy
Viaro Energy has interests in a broad portfolio of oil & gas assets through its wholly owned operating subsidiary, RockRose Energy. The Company’s operations in the Central North Sea include key interests in the Arran, Nelson, Howe, Blake and Ross fields. Interests in the West of Shetland include producing gas fields in the Greater Laggan Area (including equity in the Shetland Gas Plant), whilst key assets in the Southern North Sea include Bacton Catchment Area, Easington Catchment Area and the Anning & Somerville development. Viaro also has non-operated interests in one of the largest undeveloped fields in the North Sea, the Northern North Sea-based Bressay oil field and the EnQuest Producer FPSO. The Company also has non-operated interests in the Netherlands, of which key assets include the A&B Blocks, the K4b-K5a area and the Hanze oil field. Group production has historically achieved up to 30,000 boepd.
About Terrestrial Energy
Terrestrial Energy is a developer of Generation IV nuclear plants that use its proprietary Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology. IMSR technology captures the full transformative operating benefits of molten salt reactor technology in a plant design that represents true innovation in cost reduction, versatility and functionality of nuclear energy supply. IMSR plants will supply zero-carbon, reliable, dispatchable, low-cost, high-temperature, industrial heat and electricity for a dual-use energy role relevant to many industrial applications, such as chemical synthesis and desalination. In so doing, they extend the application of nuclear energy far beyond electric power markets. IMSR plants have the potential to make substantial contributions to industrial competitiveness, energy security, and economic growth. Their deployment will support rapid global decarbonization of the primary energy system across a broad spectrum. Terrestrial Energy uses an innovative design, together with proven and demonstrated molten salt reactor technology, which offers a unique set of operating characteristics to deliver high and compelling commercial potential. Terrestrial Energy is engaged with regulators, suppliers and industrial partners to build, license and commission the first IMSR power plants in the early 2030s.
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