Wedoany.com Report-Mar 13, Thorizon of the Netherlands announced it has secured EUR20 million (USD22 million) in funding to accelerate the development of its advanced small modular molten salt reactor, Thorizon One. It said the funding will be used to advance prototyping, licensing and demonstration of Thorizon One's cartridge fuel system.
The company said the latest funding includes EUR16 million 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. It said all of Thorizon's existing shareholders have reinforced their commitment in this investment round.
Thorizon recently secured an additional EUR4 million grant from the Dutch Province of Noord-Brabant in consortium with VDL Groep and Demcon. The recent investments follow an earlier EUR10 million grant from the France 2030 Innovative Reactor Programme of the French government in 2024.
In total, including its first equity round, Thorizon has now raised EUR42.5 million to drive the commercialisation of its reactor technology.
"The capital will drive the prototyping and demonstration of Thorizon One's groundbreaking 'cartridge' fuel system, designed to safely and cost-effectively generate power by recycling nuclear waste," the company said. "Additionally, Thorizon will finalise the reactor's basic design, advance licensing, and prototype key components as it progresses toward starting construction in 2030."
"With strong support from our investors and government partners, we are in a solid position to advance the development of Thorizon One," said Thorizon CEO Kiki Lauwers. "Our mission is to drive nuclear innovation in Europe - enhancing energy security while reducing carbon emissions and burning long-lived nuclear waste. We welcome new strategic partners to join us in making Europe's first molten salt reactor a reality."
Thorizon - a spin-off from NRG, which operates the High Flux Reactor in Petten - is developing a 250 MWt/100 MWe molten salt reactor, targeted at large industrial customers and utilities. The Thorizon One concept is unique in that the core is composed of a set of cartridges that is replaced every five to ten years.
The company said it is conducting pre-feasibility studies at three nuclear-designated sites in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, targeting construction by 2030.
