Ultra Safe said that if constructed, the reactor will be operated as a training, research and test facility and will connect to the district heating infrastructure of Lappeenrannan Energia, the municipally-owned energy company providing carbon-free district heating to the university, city, and surrounding area.
Lappeenranta is in southeastern Finland about 30 km from the border with Russia.
The MMR research and test reactor will test new technologies to decarbonise energy production, integrate with a microgrid, and help train the future workforce through hands-on experience with a next-generation high-temperature gas-cooled microreactor.
Ultra Safe also announced a memorandum of understanding with Portland Holdings Investco Limited, a privately held investment firm based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, that will see Portland and related entities invest up to $350m (€329m) in efforts to bring the reactor technology to the Middle East, North Africa and the Caribbean.
Ultra Safe has been developing its MMR and proprietary fully ceramic micro-encapsulated fuel since 2011.
Michael Lee-Chin, president and chairman of Portland Holdings, said the company’s investment in Ultra Safe will also contribute to significant milestones in the advancement of the MMR initial deployment sites at Chalk River, Canada, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US.
