NANO Nuclear and Enveniam signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to potentially collaborate on building out a nuclear fuel cycle infrastructure and deploying NANO’s microreactor technology.
Enveniam, based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is a project integration solutions company that works in various areas of the energy sector, including nuclear energy. New York-based NANO is an advanced nuclear and microreactor company.
Announced on Sept. 4, NANO and Enveniam said the MOU will create a framework to find ways to use Enveniam’s nuclear engineering and project integration capabilities with NANO’s KRONOS microreactor and the company’s fuel fabrication.
According to the NANO press release, the two companies will look to cooperate on six specific areas: Nuclear fuel transportation, uranium conversion and deconversion, efforts to commercialize the KRONOS microreactor, advanced manufacturing, domestic fuel supply chain and commercial energy markets.
Any commitment between the companies on a specific area would be subject to separate follow-up agreements, NANO said.
“Commercializing advanced nuclear technology requires more than a strong reactor design,” NANO CEO James Walker said. “It requires disciplined licensing, safety analysis, project controls, supply-chain coordination, manufacturing planning and operational readiness. Enveniam’s capabilities closely align with our expertise and business plans across these critical workflows.
This partnership marks another agreement NANO had in recent months as the company works towards commercialization. The company, working closely with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the KRONOS test reactor construction permit application, filed on March 31, is currently under review with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
KRONOS is a portable high-temperature gas-cooled modular microreactor, when at a commercial scale, could produce up to 15 megawatts of electricity and 45 megawatts of thermal energy.