Week 23 of 2024

Three nuclear energy innovation news!

🔦 Xcimer Energy Corporation (US) raises a $100 million Series A round led by Hedosophia with participation from Breakthrough Energy , Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital, and Starlight Ventures. The startup is developping an internial confirment fusion reactor, based on high-power laster technologies originally developped for the "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative programs in the 1980s. This follows a $2.5 million Seed round in 2022 and a $9 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program.

♨ Steady Energy announces construction of its first LDR-50 district heating reactor pilot plant in Finland next year. Potential sites include the capital Helsinki and two other cities, with a decision expected by the end of summer. The LDR-50 has an output of 50 MWth at around 150°C, with an operating pressure below 10 bar. It has been under development at VTT since 2020. The pilot investment is estimated to be about €15–20 million, which is surprisingly low.

🔵 Last Energy (US) forms a partnership with the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence (ENSEC COE) to jointly research military applications for micro-nuclear power technologies and explore opportunities for future deployment on NATO military installations.

👨‍🎓 Paper of the week: "What if Germany had invested in nuclear power? A comparison between the German energy policy the last 20 years and an alternative policy of investing in nuclear power", International Journal of Sustainable Energy (2024)

👉 Germany could have achieved a 73% cut in emissions while spending only half compared to Energiewende.

👇 Did you spot anything else? Let me me know!