Terrestrial Energy said late last week that it will submit its design for its Integral Molten Salt reactor (IMSR) for a pre-licensing vendor-design review with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
The design is expected to offer enhancements in operation, functionality and safety. The company said the design could be brought to market as early as 2020, assuming that regulatory requirements are established, and it is authorized for market.
Jeffrey Merrifield, former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), said this is the first design of its kind to enter the regulatory process.
The company also said the IMSR design will be able to facilitate increased global decarbonization upon entering the global market.
"The unanimous global climate goals established at COP21 have amplified our collective resolve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Travis Bradford, a Columbia University professor of practice and a specialist in natural resources, energy and innovation, said. “However, the practical pathways to deploy sustainable high-impact technology solutions are still uncertain, and there remain critical gaps in our current set of energy solutions. Terrestrial Energy's IMSR, a next-generation molten salt reactor, is designed to fill one of the most critical gaps -- a scalable, clean, carbon-free industrial heat and power solution. Today's announcement puts the company firmly on the path to being a significant part of the climate solution within the critical-response horizon of the 2020s."
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