Natura agrees to HALEU offtake from nuclear start-up QNI

Molten salt reactor developer Natura Resources announced that it has entered into a formal agreement with New York-based start-up Quadrant Nuclear Industries to receive high-assay low-enriched uranium for Natura's commercial reactor systems.

Jordan Robison, Natura's chief operating officer, said that QNI's work in downblending high-enriched uranium aligns well with the company's long-term needs. "This collaboration represents an important step toward securing a reliable and scalable fuel supply for our commercial reactors," he said.

A member of the Department of Energy's HALEU Consortium, QNI is planning to develop a reprocessing facility at Idaho National Laboratory designed to produce up to 18 metric tons of HALEU annually, supporting both commercial and government markets for advanced nuclear reactors.

Background: Natura and its university partners are currently working to deploy a 1-MWt molten salt research reactor at Abilene Christian University in Texas. The nonpower research reactor is to use HALEU fuel dissolved in molten fluoride salts.

Led by retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Dee L. Mewbourne, who serves as CEO, QNI was founded by billionaire investor Alan Quasha, who was also involved in the medical start-up ExThera Medical. That company admitted in March to failing to file adverse event reports with the Food and Drug Administration in connection with a blood filtration device used on cancer patients who traveled to Antigua for treatment.

Quote: "Our agreement with Natura marks an important step toward aligning fuel supply with reactor deployment," said Mewbourne. "Through this collaboration, we intend to establish a framework for a long-term offtake arrangement that advances both companies' missions and strengthens the domestic nuclear fuel ecosystem."