In Abilene, about 200 miles west of Dallas, Natura Resources is building the nation’s first advanced liquid-fuel research reactor in nearly 40 years. The project is housed at Abilene Christian University, where a $25 million research facility was completed in September 2023.
Natura has raised $120 million in private funding and received another $120 million from the Legislature.
Natura’s technology uses molten salt as both fuel and coolant — a design last tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s. The company is first building a 1-megawatt research reactor in Abilene, intended to demonstrate to regulators and investors that the technology works and is safe.
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Aalo Atomics is taking a different approach. The startup, founded by Canadian-born engineer Matt Loszak and based in Austin, is designing a sodium-cooled fast reactor, a technology that uses solid fuel, like conventional nuclear plants, built specifically for factory mass production.
Each unit would produce 10 megawatts, enough to power roughly 6,000 to 7,000 homes in Texas, and the reactors will be sized to fit on a standard truck. Aalo’s commercial model would consist of five of these units, totaling 50 megawatts.
Loszak said the company plans to activate its first 10 megawatt test reactor within about five months, after completing prototype testing at the end of December, as part of its effort to move toward commercial deployment.
$120/watt is orders of magnitude worse than Vogtle’s $15+/watt. Salt designs of the 1960s were abandoned due to corrosion issues.
Aalo is pure BS for promising eventual 3c/kwh which would require 50c/watt installation costs. Again, salt (sodium coolant) based that requires material science (always expensive) to limit corrosion. SMRs are a new scam needed because old nuclear scam has worn out.
Idk about that. Consider the Linglong One (ACP100): Developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), it is the first SMR to pass an independent safety assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016. Construction began in 2021, and the core module was installed in 2023.
Definitely a challenge of materials sciences, but to call it a scam? Come on. Coal sticking around as long as it has is the scam.
Linglong One (ACP100) generates up to 1twh/year. $23/mwh in operational costs. At $5.5/watt ($700m) it is very reasonable for nuclear. But all of this is China. 1/3rd materials/construction costs, 1/2 financing costs. Anti-corruption by design, local and national government support supervises/ensures results. In west, we just have politically bribed oligarchist subsidy programs.