25 Most Innovative Startups in the Nuclear Energy Space

Climate change is accelerating faster than we anticipated—and there’s nothing slowing it down. In 2017, carbon emissions hit a record high, equaling the amount that would take us beyond the Paris Agreement’s two-degree [2°C] limit outlined by the United Nations. In turn, the urgent need to add alternative sources of power, like nuclear, has never been clearer.

As the current nuclear industry works to contend with decades of stagnation and controversial events, new startups are riding on the trend to reshape the landscape.

More than a half century has passed since the first nuclear energy plant opened in October 1957. Yet despite its long timeline, nuclear power remains one of the fastest growing power sources available. New startups are carving out new roles for themselves in an industry that is slowing falling apart.

To say the nuclear sector is risk-averse to technology is an understatement. We must also address the macro and micro risks within this space and how these risks can be mitigated. The macro risk comes from the fact that the established industry is coming up against an increasing number of new contenders and slowing innovation in the sector. As a result, startups have an opportunity to disrupt this space if they are able to challenge old ways of doing things.

On the other hand, the micro risk lies in limiting what these startups can do, which ultimately comes down to access to capital.

Do new players in the field have the necessary funding that they need to succeed in the nuclear space?

A closer look at the industry and what its needs are will help determine which risk is a greater threat to the space and what it will take to mitigate the risk.

The Challenges the Nuclear Industry Faced in 2020:

The non-state industry has faced years of challenges that have resulted in additional risk, particularly in the form of increased debt, lack of capital, investor uncertainty, and limited R&D.

At the turn of the 21st century, the nuclear sector was in the driver’s seat. Fast-forward to 2020, however, and the industry has been forced to address a massive debt burden—and slowing demand growth—to revamp its business model.

The global total debt reached $3.6 trillion in 2020 (20 percent of total market capitalization), which consisted largely of debt obtained year after year to finance the cost of operations, maintenance, and start-up and development expenses. The accelerated construction rate of nuclear power facilities since 2010 resulted in more construction projects than could be supported, especially without sufficient demand to support them all.

In fact, while many of these newly constructed facilities were being developed, demand for nuclear power was waning globally. Since 2008, annual global nuclear capacity additions dropped from 10 GW (gigawatts) a year to as little as 4 GW, and the average annual growth rate has dropped from 6 percent to as little as 2 percent, according to the World Energy Council. The existing demand for nuclear power was also affected by state energy companies’ financial performance, which resulted in a reduced investment in nuclear power construction.

This was not the only problem facing state-owned and private nuclear power companies. Both groups also had to contend with aging facilities that could take more than 50 years to decommission, including reactors that were built in the 1990s and early 2000s and would have a high probability of failure in the next decade.

While the nuclear power sector was facing a number of challenges, so were its customers. That didn’t stop the growth of many startups in this space. Here are our 25 favourites:

1. CORE-POWER (UK) Ltd

The idea behind this startup: Atomic batteries’ based on the Molten Salt Reactor – a game changer for ocean transportation

Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom

Industries: Clean Energy, Industrial Engineering, Marine Technology, Marine Transportation, Nuclear, Shipping

Founders: Mikal Boe

Follow this startup or buy their offering:

Suggestions

25 Most Innovative Startups in the Nuclear Energy Space

1. CORE-POWER (UK) Ltd

2. Zap Energy

3. Deep Isolation

4. USNC

5. Oklo

6. Last Energy

7. Moltex Energy

8. LeadCold

9. Atlas Energy Systems

10. Huntington Ingalls Industries

11. Orbita Capital Partners

12. Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training

13. Crypto Farm

14. Holotron Technologies

15. Human Design Group

16. ROSATOM

17. Audiit

18. Advanced Nuclear Medicine Ingredients

19. Suracsh Filters

20. R-NOX

21. China Nuclear Engineering

22. Project Execution Services LLC

23. GreenTec-99

24. RADIO PROTECT

25. Quantum_AI Atomics

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