Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology to consider the deployment of a Micro-Modular Reactor (MMR) in Lappeenranta. The USNC has also signed an MoU with Canadian privately held investment firm Portland Holdings Investco Limited to promote the MMR in the Middle East, North Africa and the Caribbean regions.
     Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) plans to deploy an MMR as a research and test reactors at or near its campus in the city. The reactor will be used as a training, research, and demonstration facility. It will be connected to the local district heating network of Lappeenrannan Energia, to provide carbon-free district heating to the university and surrounding area.
      The MMR research and test reactor will test new nuclear technologies to decarbonize energy production, microgrid integration, and help train the future workforce through hands-on experience with a next-generation high-temperature gas cooled microreactor.
      Juhani Hyvärinen is a professor of nuclear engineering at LUT. He said, “The safety and design of the micro-modular reactor makes partnering with Ultra Safe Nuclear the ideal choice for LUT and for Finland as we work toward decarbonized municipal and industrial heat supply and a carbon-neutral world.”
     Francesco Venneri is a USNC founder and CEO. He said, “The work LUT is doing in transitioning to a carbon-neutral world is important, and the micro-modular reactor is the perfect research and training facility to advance their knowledge and experience – especially when it comes to decarbonizing district heating systems.”
     The USNC’s MMR is a fifteen megawatt thermal energy and five megawatts electrical energy gas-cooler reactor, drawing on operational experience from reactor developed by China, Germany, Japan and the U.S. It consists of two plants. The first plant is the nuclear plant that generates heat, The second plant is adjacent to the first and it converts heat into electricity or provides process heat for industrial applications. The USNC system is designed to be simple with minimal operation and maintenance requirements. There will be no on-site fuel storage, handling or processing. The MMR uses TRISO fuel in prismatic graphite blocks and has a sealed transportable core.
     The MMR is at an advanced licensing stage with the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Chalk River Laboratories campus in Ontario. The project is a collaboration between the USNC and Ontario Power Generation through the jointly-owned Global First Power Limited Partnership.
     The project at LUT joins the growing list of global training, test and research MMR projects at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the U.S. and at McMasters University in Canada.
     The USNC is based in Seattle, Washington. It has also signed an MoU with Burlington, Ontario-based Portland Holdings. Under the terms of the MoU, Portland, its affiliates, and related entities will invest up to three hundred and fifty million dollars in the USNC. They intend to bring MMR technology solutions to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Caribbean regions.
     Michael Lee-Chin is the Portland Holdings President and Chairman. He said, “Our investment in Ultra Safe Nuclear will also contribute to significant milestones in the advancement of the MMR initial deployment sites at Chalk River, Canada, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States. This partnership represents our commitment to investing in innovative solutions and addressing humankind’s most unmet need – climate change.”
     Venneri added “We are seeing high and growing interest in our Fully Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated fueled, micro reactor solutions for a number of carbon-free power and heat applications. Partnering with global financial leader Portland will give USNC a tremendous boost to meet this market demand worldwide. Portland’s corporate vision ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’ is well aligned with our mission to foster growth and sustainable economic benefits for the United States, Canada, and countless countries across the globe.”