Amsterdam-based Thorizon, a company that wants to accelerate the availability of clean energy and solve the climate crisis, announced that it has raised €12.5M in a round led by Positron Ventures. The company aims to develop a new generation of nuclear power plants.
The ‘Thorium molten salt reactor’ developed by the Dutch company claims to use long-lived waste in combination with Thorium as fuel. The reactor can significantly contribute to a safe, virtually inexhaustible, and CO2-free energy supply.
Thorizon: Everything you need to know
Founded in 2018 by Sander de Groot and Lucas Pool, Thorizon is a spin-off from the Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG), the organisation that operates the High Flux Reactor in Petten.
The company is dedicated to advancing the creation of next-generation nuclear reactors and making a positive impact on the current energy problems. It aims to create a dependable nuclear reactor that uses fuel effectively, reduces radioactive waste, and doesn’t produce CO2 while operating, in order to keep the earth clean.
Thorizon says, “While our Thorium molten salt reactor (MSR) design is an obvious product of our efforts, the real but less-obvious product is high-temperature steam. This is what comes out of the reactor and can be used for various purposes. It can be used directly to drive industrial processes and thus replace fossil fuels. Or it can be efficiently transformed into other clean energy forms such as electricity, hydrogen, and fuels. This variability is what makes nuclear power so complementary to other sources of clean energy and a solid replacement for fossil fuels.”
Capital utilisation
The Dutch company has been working on its ‘Thorium molten salt reactor’ for several years and says that the raised capital will help them invest in essential tests and research to complete the design of the first prototype.
Thorium is looking to realise a first reactor system before 2035. Founder Lucas Pool says, “What started as a good idea several years ago has developed into a very promising reactor design, we are very happy with the confidence of our investors and partners.”
The company also claims that its technology can play an important role in the global energy system, especially considering the increase in worldwide energy demand, while at the same time phasing out fossil fuels. A significant portion of the long-lived waste can be converted into short-lived waste and CO2-free energy in Thorizon’s first system, which combines existing long-lived waste with the abundant metal Thorium.
Thorizon will work closely with a number of partners to develop this technology, including the Dutch business NRG and the French company Orano, a global leader in the recycling of nuclear materials. The company also looks into the prospect of putting the first system into operation on their site in collaboration with EPZ, a company that runs the nuclear power plant at Borssele. This work is supported by a larger partnership of industrial service providers, component suppliers, and research organisations, including TU Delft and DIFFER.
Investors supporting Thorizon
The investment came from a team of private and public sector parties. Apart from Positron Ventures, impact investor Invest-NL, one private investor, and Huisman also participated. Huisman will also become an industrial supplier.
Public sector investors include two provincial funds PDENH (lead investor) and Impuls Zeeland. According to a statement, the reason the parties invest in Thorizon is because they believe that the company’s technology has a real chance of accelerating the shift to a carbon-neutral economy through the creation of a new, safe, virtually inexhaustible, and CO2-free energy source.
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