Through the FEDRE Foundation for the Sustainable Development of Europe’s Regions, we have consistently supported the energy mix and the research and innovation behind its various components. For many of these components, significant advancements have been made in favor of renewable energy sources or improved safety. Technological initiatives are multiplying to respond judiciously to broad needs. They must take greater account of geopolitical factors and resolutely promote short supply chains.
The article from *L’Usine Nouvelle*, which you will find below, discusses fourth-generation nuclear reactors, as well as Newcleo, a company aiming to develop a prototype reactor powered by nuclear waste. It is one of the most promising startups in the global nuclear sector, generating enormous interest. Professor Stefano Buono, a former CERN physicist, is its founder. This builds on the work of physicist Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize winner), with whom he collaborated, aimed at developing thorium-based energy systems—using thorium instead of uranium—driven by accelerators. This system has been promoted since 2012 by iThEC (International Thorium Energy Committee), which is organizing an international conference at CERN from September 24 to 28, 2023, on the theme “Thorium Energy – A Game Changer” (ithec.org).
The FEDRE Foundation, as a member, congratulates the iThEC operational team and its committee; the undersigned follows their work with the aim of promoting its dissemination in non-scientific circles.
Claude Haegi
President of the FEDRE Foundation
Goal: Carbon Neutrality
It’s the home stretch for French nuclear startups aiming to decarbonize industry with fourth-generation small modular reactors (SMRs) and hoping to secure a France 2030 grant. Following Naarea and its project for a mini molten-salt fast breeder reactor, Jimmy and its graphite-gas nuclear reactor concept, the two startup projects supported by the CEA, Hexana and Stella, and the highly ambitious Franco-Italian company Newcleo—which counts former minister Florence Parly among its board members—we now know what lies behind the Sparta consortium led by the Belfort-based startup Neext Engineering.