Nuclea to acquire Moltex technology portfolio; deal completion tied to UK National Security and Investment Act approval
Technology scope expands into reactors and spent-fuel recycling
Ontario-headquartered Nuclea plans to acquire the Moltex Energy technology portfolio to extend its capabilities beyond its Morpheus microreactor concept. Nuclea said the acquisition would add advanced modular and potentially grid-scale nuclear generation technologies, along with spent-fuel recycling.
The Moltex portfolio includes the WATSS (for Waste to Stable Salt) recycling process, the Stable Salt Reactor - Wasteburner (SSR-W) molten salt fast reactor technology using recycled nuclear waste as fuel, and FLEX, described as a thermal spectrum version of the SSR technology. Nuclea said the target portfolio is expected to include technology and development materials associated principally with WATSS and SSR-W.
Nuclea also cited the scale of the intellectual property in the portfolio: 80 granted patents across nine patent families in advanced nuclear technology (including nuclear fuel, reactor, chemistry and materials), plus nine pending patents on the fuel recycling process. The portfolio is described as having been developed over more than a decade, with over CAD96 million (USD69 million) of private, Canadian and US public-sector funding.
In June, Moltex Energy Canada said key stages of the WATSS process were validated using irradiated fuel from a commercial CANDU reactor at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Chalk River facilities.
Asset-led transaction and cash consideration; regulatory gating on completion
Nuclea said the transaction is structured principally as an acquisition of assets. Nuclea’s Nuclea Energy Canada subsidiary will satisfy the purchase price entirely in cash, although the price has not been disclosed.
Completion remains subject to certain closing conditions, including the required approval under the UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Following completion, Nuclea said it intends to retain Moltex Energy Canada as a focused research, engineering and regulatory-development business supporting continued advancement of the acquired technologies.
Additional corporate moves: public listing path and reactor siting talks
Separately, Nuclea recently entered into a definitive business combination agreement, subject to customary closing conditions including stockholder and regulatory approvals, with Mangoceuticals, Inc. The company says the combination will provide a path to public listing.
Nuclea also stated it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the State of Utah Office of Energy Development to explore the siting of a nuclear test reactor at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab to advance deployment of Morpheus. In addition, the company said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with New Mining Co to evaluate technical and structural feasibility for deploying Nuclea’s modular reactor technology for behind-the-meter power needs.