US-based start-up NANO Nuclear has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with energy infrastructure solutions provider Ameresco to explore the potential integration of NANO Nuclear’s microreactor designs with Ameresco’s engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) capabilities. The aim is to deploy the KRONOS MMR Energy System on federal and commercial sites.
The KRONOS MMR design is a high-temperature, gas-cooled microreactor that uses helium coolant and TRISO particle fuel. Its compact, modular architecture is intended to support flexible deployment and scalable power output, from single-unit configurations to gigawatt-class multi-reactor clusters capable of powering large industrial and civil campuses as well as other applications, including governmental requirements.
NANO Nuclear is developing several advanced microreactor designs. As well as KRONOS MMR, these include: ZEUS – a solid-core battery reactor designed for 15-20 years of continuous power without refuelling; LOKI MMR – a portable, space-capable microreactor designed for extraterrestrial applications and cis-lunar missions; and ODIN – a low-pressure coolant reactor optimised for simplified operations. The KRONOS MMR (formerly MMR Energy System) was acquired in January 2025 by NANO Nuclear from UNSC following its bankruptcy along with the LOKI MMR, formerly USNC’s Pylon. In September 2025, NANO signed a letter of intent for the proposed sale of its ODIN design and all associated intellectual property to UK-based Cambridge Atom Works.
The MOU with Ameresco outlines proposed collaboration between to evaluate potential pathways for the siting, development, construction, licensing, operation, and eventual decommissioning of NANO’s nuclear microreactors currently in development, namely KRONOS MMR, ZEUS and LOKI MMR.
“This MOU marks another milestone for NANO Nuclear as we continue to build customer demand for our approach to delivering reliable, modular nuclear microreactor energy systems in support of the United States’ energy transition,” said NANO Nuclear Founder & Chairman Jay Yu. “Working alongside Ameresco, a leading US publicly traded energy infrastructure company, gives us the opportunity to test our advanced, patented microreactor technologies against real-world requirements at scale, across both federal and commercial levels. We see this as an important step in addressing the country’s evolving energy needs with our safe, reliable and modular nuclear solutions.”
According to NANO, following a comprehensive assessment of regulatory and financial considerations, stakeholder engagement, site suitability, integration requirements, and utility interconnections, Ameresco and NANO Nuclear expect to enter into specific agreements under which Ameresco would lead EPC activities for sites using NANO Nuclear’s systems within the US. As the initial assessment advances, the companies plan to coordinate on government funding and other available incentives.
“Our collaboration with NANO Nuclear underscores our commitment to advancing and diversifying our clean energy portfolio. By evaluating the integration and deployment of their next-generation modular microreactors, we are strengthening our ability to deliver reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable energy solutions that meet the evolving needs of our federal customers, as well as the data center and industrial markets,” said Nicole Bulgarino, President of Federal Solutions & Utility Infrastructure at Ameresco.
Ameresco intends to evaluate the potential integration of NANO Nuclear’s microreactor technology with its portfolio of advanced systems. This portfolio includes existing facilities, microgrid solutions, and battery energy storage systems. This enables the delivery of energy infrastructure solutions designed to serve customers such as federal, state and local governments; utilities; data centres; educational and healthcare institutions; housing authorities; and commercial and industrial users.
“Ameresco’s extensive operational footprint, broad industry and governmental contacts and experience operating large, complex energy systems will provide us with valuable insights into how our systems can be best aligned to real operating conditions,” said NANO Nuclear CEO James Walker. The MOU is a non-binding statement of intention outlining the proposed collaboration between NANO Nuclear and Ameresco. NANO said the companies will explore the potential for entering into definitive documentation related to their collaboration in the future as circumstances warrant.
Legal action dismissed
Earlier in January, NANO Nuclear announced that the US District Court for the Southern District of New York had granted NANO Nuclear’s motion to dismiss a securities class action lawsuit filed against the company and certain of its officers and directors. The lawsuit, Hongui Xie v Nano Nuclear Energy, et al, challenged statements about the qualifications of NANO Nuclear’s team and prospects for microreactor development. The Court dismissed all claims against all defendants. The dismissal of this lawsuit followed the dismissal in April 2025 of a related lawsuit.
The class action lawsuit against NANO Nuclear Energy (NNE) was filed by the Rosen Law Firm and others in September 2024 to recover losses on behalf of NNE investors who were adversely affected by alleged securities fraud between 8 May and 18 July 2024.
The filed complaint alleged that the defendants had made false statements and/or concealed that:
- NNE’s purported progress toward regulatory approval for the design of its planned micro reactors and fuel fabrication plant was non-existent;
- NNE’s timelines for commercialisation were wildly optimistic, at best, and most likely impossible;
- the foregoing issues were likely to have a material negative impact on the Company’s projected revenues and growth;
- as a result, the Company’s financial position and/or prospects were overstated; and
- as a result, defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
The Class Action Complaint was based on “investigation conducted by and through Plaintiff’s attorneys, which included, among other things, a review of documents filed by Defendant Nano Nuclear Energy… with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), research reports issued by securities and financial analysts, press releases issued by Defendants, media and news reports, and other publicly available information”.
According to the Complaint: “NNE’s stock rose more than 600% since the Company went public on May 8, 2024 despite having no products, no revenue, no patents for its core technology. It was, however, buoyed by false claims about regulatory approvals belied by public records requests and projected timelines for commercial success that industry experts have characterised as ‘frankly laughable’.”
The Complaint referred to a report published by Hunterbrook Media in July 2024, entitled “Fission Impossible: Nano Nuclear has no revenue, no Products, “Laughable” Timelines, Part-Time Executives, and a $600 Million Market Cap” (the Hunterbrook Report).
In summary, the 4,000-word report noted;
- “Nano Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: $NNE) stock rose over 450% after going public in May [2024], reaching a market cap of more than $850 million, even though the company has no revenue, products, or patents for its core technology.
- NNE estimates that it will bring nuclear microreactors to market between 2030 and 2031. An expert called this timeline ‘frankly laughable’. The former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [Allison Macfarlane] said it ‘won’t happen’ – given that competitors with more resources have taken 15-20 years for similar projects.
- Building a single small modular reactor, the product closest to what NNE is pitching that has actually been developed, costs at least hundreds of millions of dollars for research and development. NNE reported having just under $6 million in cash in the first quarter of 2024. During the same quarter, NNE spent much more on advertising ($434,800) than it did on research and development ($290,000), despite its status as a pre-product, pre-revenue company.
- NNE’s executive chairman and president, CEO, and CFO work as independent contractors at the company and continue to hold senior management positions at other public companies. The stock price of each of those companies sits below $1.00 – and several have market caps under $5 million.
- The company’s auditor was recently sanctioned and fined by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for taking on hundreds of SPAC [special purpose acquisition company] clients without necessary resources.
- As of July 2024, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not list NNE among the companies that have begun pre-application activities for the kind of reactor NNE is pitching. An NRC spokesperson told Hunterbrook Media that the Advanced Reactor department is ‘not aware of this company’ and ‘we have not had any pre-application dealings with them’.
- Despite reportedly saying approvals were ‘pretty much complete’ for a uranium fuel fabrication facility, NNE only claims to have submitted an initial site proposal with the Department of Energy in August 2023, and the company appears to have filed no permitting or regulatory application documents with the NRC, according to a review of the agency’s online public records portal.”
Although the class action was dismissed, NANO Nuclear said it did not know if the plaintiff in the case would attempt to re-plead the claims, “but is highly confident in its defence and will vigorously defend against all claims should an amended complaint be filed”.
