Canada’s nuclear regulator partners with Moltex to develop waste technology

Moltex Energy Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) have entered into a Service Level Agreement to develop Moltex’s Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) process. The agreement was finalized even though parent company Moltex Energy was placed into administration earlier this month. However, its subsidiaries Moltex Energy Canada and MoltexFLEX continue to trade as usual. The agreement with CNSC lays out a framework for engagement and discussions with the regulator on key topical areas such as safety, security, and safeguards, ensuring that regulatory requirements are suitably considered at every stage of development. Moltex recently tested the WATSS process with used Candu fuel at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. The process will be conducted in the future at a commercial facility that Moltex is designing in cooperation with the CNSC. The facility will be built according to international regulations under the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The WATSS process recycles nuclear waste to produce fuel. Moltex is also developing the Stable Salt Reactor – Wasterburner (SSR-W) that uses recycled nuclear waste as fuel. This last process has been proposed for constructing new reactors at Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. Moltex Energy Canada is one of the two companies partnered with New Brunswick Power to realize such a project. The company is a subsidiary of Moltex Energy, a British firm founded in 2014. According to its latest financial data, released in January, it lost over £600,000 during the fiscal year ended 31 March 2024. The company already reported troubles in 2023, acknowledging that its future depended on raising external capital and cutting expenses. Moltex Energy Canada CEO Rory O’Sullivan said that the Canadian subsidiary kept operating on the market thanks to Azets, the administrator who took charge of Moltex Energy this month. Moltex Canada Energy aims to find a new owner through “a competitive sale process.” O’Sullivan also said the SSR-W and the WATSS processes have completed a “proof-of-concept” phase and are ready to move to the next stage.