Canada-based ARC Clean Technology and start-up Nucleon Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the potential deployment of the ARC’s advanced small modular reactor (SMR) design – ARC-100 – at combined heat and power and power generation sites under development by Nucleon in Alberta, Canada and Texas. The MOU establishes a framework for both companies to move toward a long-term commercial partnership, with the potential deployment of multiple ARC-100 units across North America.
ARC and Nucleon will collaborate to evaluate siting options for ARC-100 deployment, beginning with the inclusion of the ARC-100 in Nucleon’s current development work for power generation sites and then progressing toward regulatory licensing in Canada and the US.
The ARC-100 is a 100 MWe Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor design intended for both electricity and industrial heat applications. The technology is being advanced in partnership with New Brunswick Power (NB Power) at their Point Lepreau site in New Brunswick. In 2023, NB Power submitted a Licence to Prepare Site application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a commercial demonstration of the ARC reactor, and the utility is also considering ARC technology as part of a plan for additional SMR capacity at the Lepreau site.
Robert Braun, Chief Operating Officer of ARC Clean Technology, said: “This agreement advances our goal of identifying highly strategic partners and sites where the ARC-100’s flexible, low-carbon energy solution can support industrial applications and reliable grid power.” Dustin Wilkes, President and CEO of Nucleon Energy, noted: “This partnership reflects Nucleon’s commitment to building clean, dispatchable energy systems that meet the dual needs of power reliability and emissions reduction. SMRs are an important part of that future.”
