Transmutex is aiming to solve the nuclear-waste problem with its transmuter solution. See the pitch deck it used to raise $8 million.
Energy
Transmutex is aiming to solve the nuclear-waste problem with its transmuter solution. See the pitch deck it used to raise $8 million.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.
Become an Insider and start reading now.
Transmutex is a nuclear-energy startup based in Geneva, Switzerland.
It aims to provide clean, safe nuclear energy using its transmuter solution.
Insider has a copy of the pitch deck it used to raise $8 million.
This is an edited, translated version of an article that originally appeared on December 14, 2022.
Transmutex is a nuclear-energy startup based in Geneva, Switzerland. Franklin Servan-Schreiber and Jean-Pierre Revol founded it in 2019.
The startup’s aim is to provide clean nuclear energy by solving the nuclear-waste problem.
Transmutex said the solution to the energy-transition crisis is nuclear fission “without self-sustaining chain reaction.”
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers.
Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
While most nuclear reactors are powered by the radioactivity of nuclear fuel, Transmutex’s solution is to use a transmuter, which uses a particle accelerator to “force the nuclear fission reaction.”
Transmutex said this “reduces long-lived waste volume 100 times and lifetime by 1,000 times.”
The particle accelerator also allows the company to use thorium instead of uranium as fuel, further reducing the amount of radioactive waste produced.
The thorium reactors can operate with contaminated waste from existing nuclear-power plants, which helps to alleviate waste disposal issues, Schreiber said.
Thorium reactors are also smaller than conventional nuclear-power plants, meaning they generate less energy and are easier to build. This allows them to be mass-produced at a lower cost, Schreiber added.
Transmutex expects to have built its first plant in 10 years’ time, for a cost of around 1.5 billion euros, Schreiber said.
The startup has already raised an $8 million Series A funding round, with some investment coming from NY VC Union Square Ventures’ climate fund. The VC is well-known for its investments in Twitter and the fintech Stripe.
Insider has a copy of the 17-slide pitch deck Transmutex used to raise the funds.
