Mini Nuclear Reactor Firm Newcleo Starts to Raise €1 Billion

By Bloomberg

Mar 20, 2023

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(Bloomberg) -- Newcleo, a company developing small nuclear reactors powered by radioactive waste, has started a plan to raise as much as 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).

The London-based firm will use the new funds to further develop its lead-cooled fast nuclear reactors and its plants to manufacture fuel from nuclear waste, according to a statement.

“Between now and 2050, electricity demand is set to triple, driven by economic growth and electrification,” Stefano Buono, Newcleo chairman and CEO, said. “Our technology can address decarbonization of the energy systems and security of energy supply, two of the biggest challenges facing countries around the world.”

The new capital plan, part of which was reported earlier by the Times, will support Newcleo’s continued path to growth with a delivery road map that’ll see the design and build of a Mini 30MW reactor to be first deployed in France by 2030, followed by a 200MW commercial unit in the UK two years later, the company said.

The firm’s backers include Exor NV, the investment vehicle of Italy’s Agnelli family. John Elkann, the scion of the Agnelli clan, told Bloomberg last year that he sees potential for a “new Tesla” to emerge from the current wave of energy transition.

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By Daniele Lepido , John Follain