August 24, 2022
Participatiefonds Duurzame Economie Noord-Holland (PDENH) together with Positron Ventures, Invest-NL and Impuls Zeeland invest a total of €12.5 million in Thorizon, a company that converts nuclear waste into energy. This type of investment in a safer and more sustainable form of nuclear energy is a necessary step towards the energy transition.
The thorium molten salt reactor developed by Thorizon uses long-lived nuclear waste and the widely available metal thorium as fuel. As a result, this type of reactor can make an important contribution to a safe, virtually inexhaustible and CO2-free energy supply.
Essential Analytics and Testing
Thorizon originated as a spin-off from the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), the main producer of radioisotopes for medical use in Europe and manager of the research reactors in Petten. Thorizon has been working on this completely new type of reactor for a number of years. With the €12.5 million investment, Thorizon will be able to perform essential analysis and testing, which will enable it to complete the design for the first prototype. The first reactor should be built before 2035.
Founder Lucas Pool: 'What started as a good idea a few years ago has now developed into a promising reactor design. We are extremely pleased with the confidence of our investors and development partners.'
Short-lived waste
Thorizon's technology could become an important link in the global energy supply, especially given the expected growth in energy demand and the phasing out of fossil sources. Thorizon's system mixes existing long-lived nuclear waste with the common metal thorium, converting much of the long-lived waste from existing nuclear power plants into short-lived waste and CO2-free energy.
Leading knowledge partners
For the development of the technology, Thorizon will work closely with several parties, including the French Orano, world leader in the recycling of nuclear materials, and with the aforementioned NRG. Thorizon is in talks with EPZ, operator of nuclear power plant Borssele, about the realization of a first system on their site. A broader consortium is also involved of knowledge institutions such as TU Delft and DIFFER, suppliers and industrial service providers that support the development.
Strong combination of investors
The investors form a strong combination of private and public parties. The private parties are venture capital fund Positron Ventures, a private investor, and the Huisman company, which, in addition to being an investor, will also become an industrial supplier. From the public sector, PDENH (lead investor), Invest-NL and Impuls Zeeland are investing in Thorizon. The parties are investing in Thorizon because they see the company's technology as a very serious candidate to accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral economy, by developing a completely new, safe, virtually inexhaustible and CO2-free energy source.
You can read more about this innovation at Change.Inc