France 2030

The Two Startups Stellaria and Thorizon Working in Consortium With Orano Selected as Winners of the Call for Projects to Develop Molten Salt Reactors - Seite 2

With the ambition of achieving a circular economy, Stellaria, Thorizon and Orano offer a comprehensive response to the need to create an MSR industry that covers the whole of the reactor and the front end and back end of its fuel cycle. With its technological expertise, Orano is actively contributing to the emergence of these new types of molten salt reactors and to the development of molten salt fuels.

"Historically, France has been the center of nuclear expertise worldwide", says Kiki Lauwers, CEO of Thorizon. "We are extremely grateful for this opportunity to work together with established industry leaders such as Orano, the CEA and our consortium partners within the framework of France 2030. We are very proud to have been selected along with our partners, as it confirms that the design of our reactor is considered to be both scientifically and economically viable."

"Our collaboration with Orano, Thorizon, the CEA, Schneider-Electric, and Technip Energies, within the framework of France 2030, is the first building block in the creation of a European industry which will usher in a new era of renewable and low-carbon nuclear energy, with the potential to offer over 3,000 years of energy autonomy thanks to use of France's existing stocks of nuclear materials. We are convinced that our low-pressure molten salt battery opens up the prospect of a future of sustainable and safe energy for future generations, thanks to the renewal of 100% of its fuel incore. We are rising to the challenge of making these plants available as rapidly as possible to allow Europe to reindustrialize competitively and independently. " underlines Nicolas Breyton, CEO of Stellaria.

"Orano has long been committed to the development of international partnerships, in the USA and Europe, to support the emergence of a molten salt reactor industry", emphasizes Guillaume Dureau, Senior Executive Vice President, New Activities, Innovation and R&D of Orano. "The two consortia created with Thorizon and Stellaria within the framework of the France 2030 investment plan are an opportunity for Orano to accelerate our development activities to supply fuel salt common to all reactors of this type, thanks to our unique expertise and experience in high activity nuclear processes. The results obtained will also be useful to other MSR designers."