Estonian company Fermi Energia has chosen Moltex Energy, a developer of new generation nuclear reactors, as its partner, the company announced.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on the feasibility of a Moltex reactor.
According to Moltex Energy, Kalev Kallemets, head of Fermi Energia, said the company's ambition is to build Europe's first fourth-generation small modular nuclear reactor in Estonia. It could be ready in the early 2030s, he said.
Simon Newton, Moltex Energy's Development Manager, added that Estonia is the perfect location for a new energy source.
The new generation of nuclear power plants would be 20 times smaller than the previous ones, but would have the same capacity.
Moltex Energy develops molten salt reactors. They will produce energy using fast neutrons, fueled by nuclear waste already generated. The whole reaction takes place at atmospheric pressure. The reactor cannot overheat without cooling. As the temperature rises, the rate of nuclear reaction starts to fall. This would make it easier and cheaper to build.
"There can be no explosive release of gases because there are no gases and then there can be no explosion. Secondly, as the temperature rises, the reaction slows down and it can't melt away. Once it reaches a certain temperature, it just stops working. So it can't melt and it can't explode. It's a much simpler system to build, and therefore cheaper," Newton told Current Affairs.
"I think we can produce energy cheaper than coal or gas-fired power plants. We are under no illusions that this is critical for their wider deployment," Newton explained in an earlier interview with ERR.
Fermi Energia hopes that the new-generation nuclear power plant will help to ensure local energy security and lower electricity prices at the same time.
In addition to Moltex, Fermi Energia is looking for deal opportunities with two other external companies, Nuscale Power and Terrestrial Energy.
"What we're doing today, we're creating that first contact with tech manufacturers. We have started working with Estonian universities to explore this opportunity together. And as far as nuclear energy is concerned, nothing usually happens until ten years from now or even further away," said Sandor Liive, Chairman of the Board of Fermi Energia.
Physicist Andi Hektor also believes that control over electricity sources and prices is one of the main arguments for building a nuclear power plant in Estonia.
"Why I like this technology is because this technology is well suited to work with, for example, solar power plants, wind power plants, which are quite unstable. These 'molten salt reactors' are quite good at buffering the energy, so that if there is a need for more energy - for example, if the wind goes away - we can quite easily draw from it, in a sense, like stored energy," Hektor explained.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has not yet started to prepare legislation, as the project is at a very early stage.
"First of all, there should be certainty about the technology. As far as we hear, the technology is promising. The headaches of a lot of the existing technologies have been solved there, but today it's at the idea level. Let's wait until it is licensed. If such a plant is built, it will be a decision that society will have to accept for a long time, as a nuclear power plant has a lifetime of 60-100 years," said Timo Tatar, Deputy Secretary of State for Energy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The current plan is to build the first 300 MW molten salt reactor in New Brunswick, Canada, by 2028.
Founded in February, Fermi Energia's main shareholders are Kalev Kallemets, former deputy director of the Estonian Geological Survey, with a 40 percent stake, Sandor Liive, former head of Eesti Energia, with 26 percent, and Henri Ormus, a 20 percent graduate of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology's nuclear energy programme. The ownership circle also includes Mati Jeltsov, Kaspar Kööp and Mait Müntel, according to BNS.
First published on 26.03.2019 on ERR news portal. Editor: Merili Nael, Janet Õunapuu