US advanced reactor developer Nano Nuclear Energy has signed a three-year engineering services agreement with the US subsidiary of Argentina’s IMPSA to assess the design and manufacture of key components for its Kronos microreactor, a statement said.
According to the statement, the initial work would be an approximately six-month design review and manufacturing feasibility study, with the reactor pressure vessel a principal component under assessment.
Under the agreement IMPSA will examine requirements under Section III of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which covers nuclear components.
Nano said the study is expected to identify fabrication constraints, inspection difficulties, and supply chain risks early enough for changes to be incorporated into the design.
“Advanced reactors have to move from drawings and calculations to modular components that can be manufactured repeatedly, inspected, qualified and assembled,” Nano chief executive James Walker said.
Nano Nuclear is developing the Kronos MMR (micro-modular reactor system), a 15-MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to support modular and phased deployment.
The design uses helium coolant and tristructural isotropic (Triso) fuel particles embedded in a ceramic matrix. Heat would be transferred to a molten-salt thermal energy storage system.
The company recently signed an agreement with Tillman Global Holdings with the objective of deploying up to 2 GW of reactor power by the mid-2030s to support the growth of AI data centres in the US.
It has also submitted a construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Kronos MMR at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
