Thorium Changing Nuclear Energy for the Better by Swiss Startup Transmutex
Transmutex is a Swiss company that is working on a new nuclear reactor that will use thorium instead of uranium. They want to change the industry by making it safer to make electricity and reducing the amount of radioactive waste that is made. A big step forward in the nuclear energy field is thorium, which is easier to get, safer to handle, and makes less long-lived radioactive waste than uranium.
Revolutionary Reactor Design: Preventing Chain Reactions
This is a revolutionary nuclear reactor that Transmutex is working on. It uses thorium instead of uranium to make a fission reaction that cannot keep going in a chain reaction. This new method stops the reactor right away by turning off the particle accelerator, which stops possible nuclear accidents like the one in Chernobyl. Using thorium to make nuclear energy is a more environment friendly and responsible choice because the radioactive waste it creates breaks down in just 300 years.
Transmutex is currently collaborating with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and a number of governments to construct reactors in Asia and Europe. This is because Union Square Ventures gave the company $23 million in a Series A funding. India is interested because there is not enough uranium on the market. Transmutex wants to build its first facility within the next few years and is working with major government agencies to build an international partnership that will speed up the development of its groundbreaking nuclear reactor.
Founding Vision: Federico Carminati’s Nuclear Journey
Federico Carminati is a nuclear scientist and one of the founders of Transmutex. Since 1990, he has been working on some new kind of nuclear reactor. The company’s solution involves using thorium instead of uranium and combining it with a particle accelerator. Thorium is a weakly radioactive metal abundantly found in rocks across the Earth’s crust, making it more democratic than uranium.
Transmutex is also working on developing a more powerful particle accelerator for cancer treatment in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute and has attracted international partners, including Russia’s Rosatom and the US’s Argonne National Laboratory. A working prototype for a demonstration will be ready by the early 2030s.
Future Prospects: Towards a Transformative Future
The scientific community and governments all over the world have given this new way of doing things a lot of attention and support. If you use thorium with a particle accelerator, you can get better results in other areas as well, like cancer treatment. This is because it is a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional uranium reactors. This company, Transmutex, is well on its way to changing the future of nuclear energy and medical technology with the help of well-known institutions and international partners.
