Turkish and French companies to develop molten salt reactor

ThorAtom, Türkiye's only private company developing 4th generation nuclear reactors, and NAAREA, a French company operating in the field of sustainable nuclear energy, signed a strategic cooperation for the joint development of molten salt reactor technology.

The agreement between ThorAtom and NAAREA was signed at the 11th Nuclear Power Plants Summit (NPPES), organized in cooperation with the Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) and the Nuclear Industry Association (NSD) with the support of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, and of which Anadolu Agency is the Global Communications Partner.

The agreement, which stands out as a strategic step in terms of popularizing clean, reliable and scalable new generation nuclear energy solutions, was made with the participation of Tarık Öğüt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FİGES Group, to which ThorAtom is affiliated, and Jean-Luc Alexandre, CEO of NAAREA.

Within the scope of the collaboration between ThorAtom and NAAREA, the production of molten salt reactors at the scale of small modular reactors (SMR) is targeted for Turkey and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. These reactors will be designed to provide cost-effective and uninterrupted energy in a wide range of areas such as electricity generation, thermal energy and hydrogen production.

In his speech, Öğüt stated that as ThorAtom, molten salt reactors and fuel issues are among its priority areas.

Öğüt stated that they will be conducting studies on the production of molten salt reactors in Türkiye and the EMEA region in the coming years, and said, “This cooperation is the beginning of this.”

Alexandre stated that they were very proud and honored to sign the partnership agreement and that NAAREA has a strong will to open up to the world market.

Alexandre, who stated that they found the right momentum and the right partners in Türkiye, said, “We want to develop molten salt reactors faster than ever and work on the fuel cycle, which is the key to this. If we want to decarbonize the world, I think we have the right partnership and the right people to make it happen; especially in our region and our surroundings.”

AA