Netherlands-based NRG Pallas and Terrestrial Energy, a US developer of small modular nuclear power plants, are starting the final phase of their graphite irradiation program for Terrestrial Energy’s Generation IV Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR).

NRG Pallas said in a statement that the irradiation tests will enable Terrestrial Energy to finalise the qualification of graphite for licensing and future operation of its IMSR plant.

The tests are being conducted at NRG Pallas’s High Flux Reactor (HFR) and research centre at Petten in the Netherlands.