Two nuclear start-ups, Stellaria and Thorizon, each in consortium with Orano, have been selected by the French government to receive funding through the France 2030 national investment plan to develop molten salt reactors. Each consortium has been awarded a €10m ($10,8m) grant. The two projects are the result of a collaboration of several months bringing together these three companies with the aim of developing a European molten salt reactor (MSR) sector.
MSRs use molten fluoride salts as primary coolant, at low pressure and can operate with epithermal or fast neutron spectrums using a range of fuels, including thorium, which can be used to breed fissile uranium-233 from an initial source of fissile material. There are a growing number of different MSR concepts, all still in the design stage.
Guillaume Dureau, Orano’s Director of New Activities, Innovation and R&D, said Orano has long been involved in the development of international partnerships, in the US and in Europe, in order to support the emergence of a sector for molten salt reactors. “The two consortia created with Thorizon and Stellaria as part of the France investment plan 2030 are for Orano, an opportunity to accelerate our developments aimed at supplying common combustible salt to all reactors of this type, thanks to our expertise and our unique experience in high activity nuclear processes,” he said. “The results obtained will also be useful for others MSR designers.”
The France 2030 re-industrialisation plan, launched by President Emmanuel Macron in October 2021, is endowed with €54bn in funding schemes to be deployed over five years. In February 2022, Macron said €1bn would be made available for France's Nuward small modular reactor (SMR) project and "innovative reactors to close the fuel cycle and produce less waste". He set "an ambitious goal" to construct a first prototype in France by 2030. As well as providing grants, the France 2030 programme provides access to expertise in nuclear research. It is managed by the General Secretariat for Investment on behalf of the Prime Minister and implemented by the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME), the National Research Agency (ANR), Bpifrance and the Bank of Territories. Following a call for projects, Thorizon and Stellaria were awarded the €10m grants.
Amsterdam-based Thorizon was spun out of Netherlands research institute NRG, which operates the High Flux Reactor in Petten. It is designing a 250 MWt/100 MWe MSR intended for large industrial customers and utilities. Thorizon aims to construct a pilot reactor system before 2035. Thorizon’s design aims to use a combination of long-lived elements from reprocessed used nuclear fuel and thorium and to recycle long-lived waste from existing nuclear facilities.
Earlier in 2024 thorizon opened a second location in Lyon. CEO Kiki Lauwers noted: “Historically, France has been the centre of nuclear expertise in the world. It is therefore important for us to also have a physical presence there., especially since we collaborate with the French company Orano.” Thorizon also leverages the expertise of several other partners including CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), two research institutes in Lille, French consultancy firm Oakridge, engineering company Tractebel, Dutch NRGIPALLAS in Petten, and Differ in Eindhoven. In February Thorizon announced it had signed a strategic partnership agreement with French ultra-compact molten salt fast neutron reactor developer Naarea.
Meanwhile, French chloride molten salt reactor developer Stellaria – a spin-off from the CEA is partnering with CEA, Technip Energies and Schneider Electric. The reactor it is proposing will be very compact – measuring four cubic metres – and will be able to use a diversified range of nuclear fuels (uranium, plutonium, mixed plutonium-uranium oxide (mox), minor actinides and thorium). The reactor, which Stellaria says is "the world's first fast neutron reactor capable of renewing 100% of its fuel in its core during operation" – will produce 250 MWt/110 MWe. It said the consortium with Orano "enables the necessary acceleration of synchronised R&D between fuels and reactors". Together with its partners, Stellaria aims to commission its first reactor in 2033 and series reactors as early as 2035.
“We are convinced that our low-pressure molten salt stack opens up the prospect of a sustainable and safe energy future for future generations, thanks to 100% renewal its fuel in the core,” said Stellaria President Nicolas Breyton. “We are taking up the challenge of providing these plants as quickly as possible.”
Image: Visualisation of Thorizon's nuclear reactor (courtesy of Thorizon)
