Transmutex selected by the French Nuclear Energy Society among 1 of 5 remarkable start-ups.

Transmutex, which is headquartered in Geneva, but also has a subsidiary in Annecy, has been selected by the French Nuclear Energy Society (SFEN) after a rigorous review as one of five remarkable start-ups with activities in France. SFEN is the prime national organization for information and advocacy on nuclear energy. Its board is composed of leaders in the field, such as the Philippe Storh, director for energy research at the Nuclear Energy Commission (CEA), or Guillaume Dureau, deputy director of Orano SA (fuel and reprocessing), together with Valerie Faudon, the secretary general who has recently been awarded the legion of honour. ( link to list here)

SFEN notes the essential characteristics of the 100MWe Transmutex START reactor are two (translated from French):

Safety: "The reactor is subcritical, which means that there is no self-sustaining chain reaction. It stops as soon as the supply of neutrons ceases, which is an important safety element."

Waste destruction: "START proposes, in addition to electricity and heat production, to reduce nuclear waste in an efficient way. In 2012, the Nuclear Energy Commission (CEA) mentioned the effectiveness of this type of technology for waste transmutation."

The other four innovative start-ups selected were:

Naarea - molten salt / 40MWe

Jimmy - high temperature gas cooled / 20MWe

Newcleo - fast neutron lead cooled / 30MWe

Renaissance - Stellarator fusion / NA