Urenco is an international supplier of enrichment services and fuel cycle products for the civil nuclear industry, serving utility customers worldwide. It has just announced that it is withdrawing its support for the U-Battery advanced modular reactor (AMR) Project. It said that it had “exhausted its attempts to secure the commitment of new commercial investors”.
The U-Battery is a four megawatt high-temperature gas-cooled micro-reactor which will be able to produce local electricity and heat for a range of energy needs. The project was initiated by Urenco in 2008. The concept design was developed by the University of Manchester and Dalton Institute in the U.K. The Technology University of Delft in the Netherlands was also involved. The consortium says that the technology uses high-integrity TRISO fuel. They aim to replace diesel power with clean, safe, and cost-effective energy for a variety of applications. These include remote communities and other off-grid location such as mining operations.
The U-Battery consortium said that “Urenco has announced its intention to withdraw from the project due to necessary reprioritization under its strategy.”
U-Battery’s supporting organizations include BWXT Technologies Inc, Cavendish Nuclear, Costain, Kinectrics, Jacobs, the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear AMRC, Rolls-Royce and the University of Manchester.
Urenco said, “The U-Battery team has completed its current program of work under the AMR RD&D program, and after dialogue and consultation with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and with other stakeholders, Urenco's intention is to preserve the public investment in U-Battery by transferring its intellectual property to the National Nuclear Laboratory, subject to necessary due diligence and governance approvals.”
Last January, U-Battery was granted its first legal patent for the design of its high-temperature gas-cooled reactor fuel element and core from the U.K. Intellectual Property Office. This means that the fuel element and reactor core design are protected in law for five years and up to a maximum of twenty years. U-Battery said that it was pursuing similar patents in the U.S. and Canada.
U-Batter said, “Our work to date has set and defined the technology’s core characteristics, operational parameters, and future decommissioning plans and all to achieve the highest levels of safety ... we are proud to have created a full-size model of the reactor pressure vessel, the intermediate heat exchanger vessel and the connecting duct. This demonstrated how the AMR can be built using modular techniques, making it easy to construct and to transport.”
Chris Chater is the U-Battery Chief Technology Officer. He highlighted the “progress the U-Battery team have made to date; from a conceptual design developed by the Universities of Manchester (UK) and Delft (the Netherlands) to successfully winning UK government backing as part of AMR competitions from 2018 onwards. While Urenco has refocused its priorities, we continue to believe in the U-Battery design which could provide an innovative decarbonization solution for hard-to-abate sectors”.
A spokesperson was asked if Urenco’s exit meant the end of the project. They said, “It is too soon to answer about the future of the project. The focus for now is on transferring the intellectual property and securing new opportunities for the employees”.