Tractebel Teams Up With Thorizon On Molten Salt Reactors

Tractebel (ENS Corporate Member) and the French-Dutch start-up Thorizon signed a three-year partnership to advance the Thorizon One molten salt reactor.

By providing engineering services, including support on the conceptual design, computational modelling, cost estimates and design reviews, Tractebel will support Thorizon in developing this advanced modular reactor (AMR) based on molten salt -which acts as both the fuel and the coolant – using spent fuel from existing nuclear power plants as an important source of carbon-free energy.

Specifically, the Thorizon One will provide 250MW of industrial heat, which can be directly used in industrial processes (e.g., chemical industry or hydrogen production) or can be transformed into electricity for 250.000 households.

For several years, Tractebel has been a frontrunner in the deployment of SMRs, which we believe will contribute to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We are now proud to support Thorizon for the development of a Generation IV reactor. This ground-breaking technology will close the fuel cycle and make the circular economy a reality in the nuclear sector.

said Vincent Schryvers, Business Manager of the Netherlands, Tractebel

Read the full Tractebel Press Release.

Thorizon, a spin-off of the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG, ENS Corporate Member), in August 2022 announced to have raised €12.5 million to develop a new generation of nuclear power plants, based on the use of long-lived waste in combination with the abundant metal Thorium as fuel.

To develop this technology, the company is closely collaborating with several parties, such as Orano, the abovementioned NRG, the Dutch nuclear operator EPZ (ENS Corporate Member),and a broader consortium of research institutions such as TU Delft and DIFFER, component suppliers, and industrial service providers.