Is laser technology the future of uranium enrichment? That’s exactly the bet that NANO Nuclear Energy is making.
What’s happening:
- NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) has invested $2M USD into LIS Technologies $11.8M USD seed round financing
The big idea:
- LIS Technologies is focused on laser isotope separation technology which uses infrared wavelengths to be able to separate selected isotope molecules in uranium
- By using laser technology, it is possible to exploit the small differences between uranium-235 atoms and uranium-238 atoms and concentrate solely on uranium-235 isotopes which are needed for nuclear fuel production
Why it matters:
- Laser isotope separation technology has exceptionally promising potential for the future of enriching nuclear fuel for small modular reactors and micro reactors, as current methods of enriching uranium such as centrifuge facilities are both costly to build and also consume massive amounts of electricity
- Producing nuclear fuel at scale within North America is going to become of critical importance following the flurry of new nuclear power projects being launched by large technology giants such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Going deeper:
- Isotope technology for nuclear fuel supply has become a rising trend, notably with ASP Isotope (NASDAQ: ASPI) recently entering into a term sheet with Bill Gates founded TerraPower to build out a new uranium production facility that leverages ASP Isotope’s foundational technology
The intrigue:
- NANO Nuclear Energy also has their own ambitions for micro reactor technology, previously announcing a collaboration with Blockfusion to leverage their reactors to power artificial intelligence cloud computing
