US startup to build nuclear ‘micro’ reactor in PH

MANILA, Philippines — American startup Valar Atomics Inc. is building a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor in the Philippines in cooperation with the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), seeking to demonstrate the project’s potential for bringing down electricity costs in the country.

Kip Mock, president of Valar Atomics, said the total budget for building the first micro high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in the country will be “tens of millions” in US dollars.

“It’s not going to be connected to the grid or generating electricity. It’s simply a proof of concept, the pilot project for future commercial reactors that we hope to break here to the Philippines soon,” Mock said last week in Makati City.

This particular nuclear reactor can efficiently produce heat for clean power or to drive energy-intensive industrial applications, according to the US Department of Energy.

Mock expressed hope that building this small nuclear facility with the PNRI will help bring down the cost of electricity in the Philippines.

“We’re demonstrating the core physics at a very small scale, so there’s extremely low risk,” Mock said.

“The Philippines has [2,200] populated islands and there’s such a strong need here for reliable baseload [or uninterrupted power supply]that’s not interconnected,” he told reporters.

The California-based firm said it has initiated the licensing process while finalizing plans for the construction of the reaction at a location that they did not disclose.

“We see this as a very long-term partnership,” Mock added. “We see this being a multi-decade process of building out energy infrastructure and reducing costs of energy here.”

Grid support

Mock said one of the challenges in putting up a micro high-temperature gas reactor in the archipelago is ensuring that the power grid can support such a power plant.

Last week, two separate agreements were signed in Makati City to support the civil nuclear workforce development in the Philippines.

One of the nonbinding accords signed by American energy solutions provider EOS Organization was a collaboration with Valar Atomics and PNRI to deploy advanced nuclear technologies.