Kalev Kallemets, Chairman of the Board of Fermi Energia, will be in North America to meet with the nuclear community there to develop cooperation on nuclear technology between the countries. At the meeting, held at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratory (CNL), Ted Moryto, Director of Business Development at CNL, called on the Estonian scientific community and PhD students to work together to develop the field.
Kallemets met Ted Moryto, Director of Business Development at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratory (CNL), and a large team of scientists, visiting a total of four different laboratories and ten different pilot projects.
During the visit, a representative of Fermi Energy explained to Moryto and the scientists the European Union's climate policy and the increasing problematic nature of energy supply in Northern Europe over the next decade, which are excellent market conditions for the construction of a new generation of Canadian small modular reactors in Estonia. However, Ted Moryto, Director of Business Development, proposed to start a collaboration with Estonian scientists.
"The Canadian Nuclear Laboratory is open to collaborating with Estonian researchers and PhD students to provide them with experimental knowledge of the properties of fuel, moderator and heat exchanger materials for the new generation of reactors in the context of the nuclear power quality control system," said Ted Moryto, Director of Business Development at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratory.
Canada's nuclear laboratory employs 3,000 scientists, researchers and specialists and has been at the heart of Canada's nuclear design and development since 1945. CNL has a 10-year research budget and an investment budget of €800 million. For the past four years, CNL has been working on site selection, environmental impact assessments and technology selection for the construction of a new generation of small modular reactors on the Chalk River site.
A 5MW high-temperature gas reactor is likely to be the first to be built by 2026, with strong interest in commercial deployment from small towns in northern Canada and large mining companies isolated from the grid. There are also plans for a 300MW Terrestrial Energy molten salt reactor, which is of interest to Fermi Energia Estonia.
Fermi Energia's goal is to bring Estonia's energy production into the 21st century by developing a modern, small nuclear power plant that will ensure Estonia's security of electricity supply in all weather conditions, affordable prices for electricity consumers, and meet the country's climate targets.
Fermi Energia was founded by Estonian nuclear energy and physics PhDs Mati Jeltsov, Kaspar Kööp, Henri Ormus and Mait Müntel and energy economics PhDs Sandor Liive and Kalev Kallemets. To date, €280 000 has been invested in the company to carry out the feasibility study.