A company in New Brunswick that was planning to construct its inaugural small modular nuclear reactor is now in a precarious position, prompting the sale of some assets. Moltex Energy Canada is divesting its engineering designs, patents, software, intellectual property, and other assets to a new entity, Nuclea Energy Inc., for $11.5 million. This move comes after financial difficulties led Moltex to be overseen by insolvency administrators.
Despite the asset sale, Moltex CEO Rory O’Sullivan stated that the company will persist and is not ruling out the possibility of proceeding with building a small modular reactor in New Brunswick. However, the future of this plan appears uncertain, with Energy Minister René Legacy emphasizing the need to separate electricity generation from local job creation initiatives.
Nuclea Energy Inc. plans to raise capital through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, with 20% of the funds allocated for the Moltex acquisition. The company’s reactor design, Morpheus, targets markets like Arctic communities, data centers, mines, and remote military sites. This design differs from Moltex’s stable salt reactor model, and there is no mention of the original plan to place the reactor near N.B. Power’s Point Lepreau station.
The potential sale has garnered attention from Legacy, who expressed interest in meeting the new owners. The review panel examining N.B. Power echoed concerns about adopting unproven technologies, recommending the utility opt for established models like larger CANDU reactors. Moltex had previously received funding from both federal and provincial governments, with the aim of positioning New Brunswick as a global nuclear technology leader.
Both Moltex and another developer, Arc Clean Energy Canada, faced financial challenges that jeopardized their ability to deliver small reactors in a timely manner. An Arc executive suggested exploring alternative SMR designs that were more advanced and could be deployed sooner. Nuclea president Sagar Sanghera did not provide comments on the situation.