Moltex receives government funding for small modular reactor

Moltex Energy received $50.5 million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to advance its project to design and commercialize a molten salt reactor and spent fuel recycling facility.

“The future of energy in Atlantic Canada is carbon-free. Today’s investment to develop innovative SMR technology in New Brunswick will support the deployment of the Atlantic Loop, help us build a more resilient economy and bring us one step closer to our climate goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Dominic LeBlanc, President, Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Member of Parliament, Beauséjour.

Moltex plans to build the world’s first 300 MW Stable Salt Reactor – Wasteburner (SSR-W) and Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) facility at the Point Lepreau Generating Station site in Saint John, New Brunswick and provide carbon-free electricity to the grid by the early 2030s.

“We are extremely grateful to the federal government for its support of our project,” said Rory O’Sullivan, CEO, North America, Moltex Energy. “We are significantly closer to our goal of new clean energy generation, and the many economic and environmental benefits that come with it.”

The SIF funds represent $47.5 million of the total federal government investment, and Moltex will match these funds dollar-for-dollar. The full amount will be used to progress the SSR-W and WATSS designs and validate key assumptions to support the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s Pre-Licensing Vendor Design Review Phase 2. The ACOA funds represent $3 million of the total, and will be used to further WATSS research.