Transmutex SA, a Geneva-based company, raises over CHF 20 million in an extension of its Series A to further develop and commercialize its subcritical nuclear energy system

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Jan 29, 2024, 06:00 ET

Reinventing nuclear energy production for a future of scalable baseload carbon-free energy without long-lived radiotoxic waste

GENEVA, Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Transmutex SA, a nuclear engineering company based in Geneva, Switzerland, announces a new round of financing to further develop its solution for a safer, lower-cost, proliferation-resistant nuclear energy technology. The Series A2 round is co-led by Union Square Ventures and Steel Atlas.

Founded on 29 July 2019, Transmutex is reinventing nuclear energy with the design of a safer, non-self-sustaining reaction technology that will usher in a new era of lower-cost and proliferation-resistant, carbon-free baseload energy. Coupling a particle accelerator to a non-self-sustaining (subcritical) fuel assembly has several key benefits over self-sustaining nuclear energy solutions:

1) The reaction can be stopped in 2 milliseconds for safer operation

2) The system can use different fuel material and enrichment levels, thereby unlocking vast resources, including thorium, a metal that has long been overlooked for nuclear energy

3) Subcriticality offers a much wider safety margin, allowing the system to burn the existing stockpile of long-lived nuclear waste more efficiently

4) When thorium is used as fuel, it will not produce plutonium and other long-lived waste

5) When combined with innovative spent-fuel recycling technology, the system can be made sustainable for energy production over centuries

The technology's key promises are inherent safety, resistance to proliferation, and the transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste produced by uranium-based nuclear. Transmutex is collaborating with top tier governmental institutions worldwide to explore the possibility of forming of an international coalition to accelerate the development and the construction of a first-of-kind facility.

The United Nations recognizes that up to five times more nuclear power will be needed by 2050 to meet the clean energy demand (link), which is not sustainable, since the current uranium-based nuclear will soon face resource shortage and produces long-lived waste that is difficult to manage. This was further emphasized during COP28, where 22 countries vowed to triple their production of nuclear power (link).

Transmutex selected Union Square Ventures and Steel Atlas, based in New York, to co-lead its Series A2 financing on the basis of their exceptional track-record and demonstrated commitment to investing in impactful deep technology solutions.

They are joined by a syndicate of both new and existing investors including At One Ventures (USA), HCVC (France/USA) and AlleyCorp (USA), with the participation of House Of Ventures (USA), Presight Capital (USA), Verve Ventures (Switzerland), FONGIT (Switzerland) and Tiny Supercomputer Investment Co. (UK), as well as private investors.