Terrestrial Energy and Schneider Electric signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop commercial opportunities and advance the deployment of IMSR plants. Terrestrial Energy?s IMSR plant is designed to be small and modular for swift construction, scalable deployment, and to achieve transformative improvements in nuclear energy economics. Its heat and power supply has many industrial uses that require reliable, baseload zero-carbon energy supply at near-site locations, such as dedicated power for large data centers and cogeneration for heavy industrial facilities.

Schneider Electric systems automate and optimize energy management for improved performance, efficiency, and contribute to the commercial and sustainability goals of its customers. This collaboration offers solutions to the major energy challenges faced by data center operators and many heavy industries operating a wide range of industrial processes such as hydrogen, ammonia, aluminum, and steel production. These high-energy users require low-cost, reliable and emissions-free baseload supply that offers an alternative to intermittent renewable power with storage or carbon emitting fossil fuel power plants.

In April 2023, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), following a systematic and multi-year review against nuclear regulatory requirements, concluded that there were no fundamental barriers to licensing the IMSR plant for commercial use. This was the first-ever regulatory review of a commercial nuclear plant using molten salt reactor technology and the first advanced, high-temperature fission technology to complete a review of this type.