Transmutex raises CHF 5.3 million to address radioactive waste

Co-founded in 2019 in Geneva, Transmutex develops nuclear technology designed to efficiently reduce the stockpile of existing nuclear waste based technologies tested at CERN and and at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The approach offers a more secure design of reactor than existing ones and will reduce the gravity of the most radioactive waste by a factor of 1,000.

The company's solution uses particle accelerators to transmute (changed into different elements) existing long-lived nuclear waste, which, in turn, produces carbon-free energy that can be reinjected in the grid or used to produce green hydrogen. This will enable clients to produce scalable carbon-free energy without the traditional challenges of existing nuclear plants.

Following the closing of its CHF 2.6 million seed investment round in May 2020, the company has obtained further capital led by New York based Union Square Ventures Climate Fund, whose principal partner is Albert Wenger. “Union Square Ventures has done extensive due diligence and they came out impressed enough to invest”, said FranklinServan-Srieber, Co-founder and CEO os Transmutex. Additionally, Alley Corp (New York) and high net worth Swiss private investors also joined the round. The funds will be used will be to continue its R&D activities. The new investment brings the company’s total equity capital to CHF 8 million since January 2020.

Transmutex inks partnership with PSI
Parallel the the investment round, Transmutex has entered into a collaboration agreement with the (PSI) on the development of its carbon-free energy production technology based on the combination of particle accelerators and thorium fuel. Through this agreement, Transmutex will have access to PSI's foremost experts in nuclear safety, nuclear waste analysis, fuel cycle, spallation target design, as well as operation of high-power proton-beam cyclotrons. PSI was a key member of the hugely impactful MEGAPIE experiment for a high-energy spallation target. It has also operated for over three decades the most powerful proton-beam cyclotron in the world with 590MeV beam energy and up to 1.4MW beam power.

“Transmutex has set out to develop a technology based on an advanced transmutation concept conceived by Professor Carlo Rubbia and his team at CERN. We at PSI recognize the large potential of this endeavor, both in terms of the production of carbon-free energy and in the context of a circular fuel economy. We are open to providing Transmutex access to our nuclear facilities e.g. for the post-irradiation examination of transmutation targets, and to sharing our nuclear safety expertise and accompanying computational tools for a thorough safety assessment of Transmutex’ plant design”, stated Andreas Pautz, director of the Nuclear Energy and Safety division at PSI.

(RAN)