Transatomic Power is an MIT spin-off founded by Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie that is developing a molten salt reactor designed to consume nuclear waste. The company focuses on smaller, high-efficiency plants that can be factory-built and shipped by train, producing about 500 megawatts per unit—roughly half of a standard plant. Its reactor design uses salt mixed with fuel and improved internal geometry to passively shut down as temperature rises and to run on various fuels, including discarded waste and mined uranium at enrichments as low as 1.8%. Transatomic's designs cannot produce weapons-grade materials and generate only a fraction of the high-level waste of conventional reactors. The company picked up $2 million from Founders Fund to validate its reactor design, with plans to build finished units thereafter. The first unit is expected to cost $1.7 billion, and the company projected commercial production could begin as soon as 2020.

Total raised

$4M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Aug 2014