Amsterdam-based Thorizon, a deep-tech startup specialised in molten salt reactor technology, announced that it has secured €20M in funding.
It includes €16M as the first tranche of its Series A round, led by the Dutch National Promotional Institution, Invest-NL, backed by an InvestEU guarantee from the European Commission for the research part, with strong backing from Positron Ventures, PDENH, and Impuls Zeeland.
The Dutch company recently secured an additional €4M grant from the Dutch Province of Noord-Brabant in consortium with VDL Groep and Demcon.
The announcement comes around one year after raising €10M from the French government to develop a molten salt reactor — Thorizon One.
In total, including its first equity round, Thorizon has raised €42.5M to drive the commercialisation of its innovative reactor technology.
Fund utilisation
The funding will support the development and testing of Thorizon One’s “cartridge” fuel system, which aims to generate power by recycling nuclear waste safely and cost-effectively.
Talking about the advantages of Thorion One’s “catridge” fuel system to Silicon Canals, Kiki Lauwers, CEO of Thorizon says, “The cartridge-based molten salt reactor reduces long-lived nuclear waste, is inherently safe, and can be built at competitive costs due to its intrinsic safety and modular design. In traditional nuclear plants, uranium fuel rods serve as fuel, while water acts as the coolant. In our reactor, molten salt performs both functions: a nuclear-infused salt mixture serves as both the fuel and the coolant”.
Thorizon will also complete the reactor’s basic design, move forward with licensing, and create prototypes of key components, with plans to start construction in 2030.
Thorizon One is designed to provide carbon-free energy and use long-lasting nuclear waste as fuel. Its modular design and cartridge-based fuel system allow for scalable development.
“Due to its inherent safety, the reactor can be realised at lower costs. Additionally, our fuel cartridges can be mass-produced remotely, providing a significant cost advantage,” she adds.
By employing molten salt technology, Thorizon is working on reactors that are safe, cost-efficient, and quicker to deploy than traditional nuclear plants, contributing to the transition to clean energy in Europe.
Thorizon: Pioneering molten salt reactor technology
Led by Kiki Lauwers, Thorizon, originally a spin-off from NRG, sees small modular nuclear reactors as an ideal, stable, and clean complement to an energy system increasingly reliant on wind and solar power.
The company is developing a “walk-away safe” molten salt reactor that uses long-lived nuclear waste as fuel, taking a step toward circularity.
“Our patented technology overcomes the main bottlenecks to bring molten salt, a technology that has already been demonstrated, to the market. The main technical challenges for molten salt reactors are material integrity and fuel management. Thorizon has developed a unique, patented cartridge concept that industry experts recognise as a “smart and elegant” solution to key design challenges inherent to molten salt reactors—specifically, material integrity and fuel management,” she explains.
Strengthening supply chains and industry partnerships
The company has already built an ecosystem in preparation for building the first reactor, Thorizon One, with leading companies in the Netherlands, France, and Europe.
This investment will be partly used to further expand and strengthen our ecosystem and partnerships.
The company is working on reactor design and system prototypes, with plans to begin constructing its first reactor, Thorizon One, around 2030.
Thorizon collaborates with industry leaders such as Orano, Tractebel, VDL, and EDF, and its project has been selected by the European Commission and the French government under the France 2030 investment plan.
Navigating regulatory and market challenges
The Amsterdam company is proactively addressing regulatory hurdles by engaging early with
nuclear regulators, including a joint preparatory review with the French and Dutch authorities, with the Belgian regulator observing.
By adhering to existing nuclear regulations, Thorizon aims to avoid dependency on regulatory changes and streamline approval processes.
The company also collaborates with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and contributes to the EU Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Alliance’s nuclear safety working group.
On the market side, securing funding is a key obstacle, as nuclear innovation is often excluded from public and private investment mandates, and Europe has fewer deep-tech venture capital funds.
“A big market challenge is the difference in ease and amounts of capital that can be raised in Europe vs other markets, for example, the US or China. In Europe, all kinds of regulations make it less attractive for VCs to invest. So it will be harder to compete with US-funded nuclear companies. However, we do believe that for Europe to secure its position in the world, it needs to focus on energy security, independent of the US and Russia,” she explains.
The strategic importance of France and the Netherlands
Thorizon has laid a strong foundation for advancing its molten salt reactor technology while building a team of 50 engineers across Amsterdam and Lyon.
On the decision to set up offices in both Amsterdam and Lyon, she explains, “France, with 57 active nuclear power plants, is Europe’s nuclear expert and has a large nuclear sector. Nuclear energy is the number one priority within French industrial policy. By having an office in Lyon, we gain access to this ecosystem and the experienced and ambitious talent that is crucial for realising our plans for the Netherlands and Europe.”
“The Netherlands on the other hand has a flourishing high-tech manufacturing industry, with companies like VDL Groep, Delmeco, and Demcon that are also interesting players for Thorizon to team up with,” she continues.
“To achieve the necessary European approvals and permits, it is very helpful to combine the strengths of the Netherlands and France. Additionally, we combine the strength of Dutch manufacturing with France’s nuclear expertise. This also provides us with the ideal springboard to accelerate the deployment of our plants across Europe in the future. Moreover, a combined operation in Amsterdam and Lyon makes us more attractive to nuclear talent from all over Europe,” she states.
Key indicators to measure success
Thorizon aims to develop an inherently safe nuclear system that reduces waste while generating energy for 250,000 households at competitive costs.
“There is an extensive list of regulatory requirements that must be met to obtain a license. So demonstrable compliance with these requirements, especially in safety cases, is a key measure. We are also validating key parts of our design for performance and durability and experimenting with different sub-systems, such as a salt loop, to ensure the design also works in practice,” she adds.
According to Kiki, success will be measured by achieving a streamlined, effective technology delivery with a competitive timeline, ensuring construction begins by 2030.
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