Advanced Nuclear Reactor Patents

Advanced nuclear reactor patents cover small modular reactor SMR integral primary system and passive safety innovations; sodium-cooled fast reactor SFR and traveling wave reactor TWR fuel cycle innovations; gas-cooled pebble bed HTGR and TRISO fuel innovations; and molten fluoride salt and fluoride-salt-cooled high temperature reactor FHR innovations — with IP held by advanced reactor developers, national laboratories, and nuclear fuel cycle companies: MAJOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR PATENT HOLDERS: NUSCALE POWER: 300+; specific SMR innovations (specific specific NuScale Power Module NPM: specific specific integral pressurized water reactor iPWR from specific specific 77 MWe 250 MWth per module from specific specific 12 modules per plant 924 MWe from specific specific passive safety no pumps needed from specific specific helical coil steam generator HCSG from specific specific 360°C 12.8 MPa operating from specific specific 4.5 year fuel cycle from specific specific 96 hour passive cooling no AC no injection from specific specific NRC SDA standard design approval 2020 from specific specific first SMR SDA in history from specific specific VOYGR 6-module 462 MWe from specific specific specific specific 2.5× lower overnight capital cost vs. AP1000); TERRA POWER: 300+; specific Natrium innovations (specific specific Natrium reactor: specific specific sodium-cooled fast reactor SFR from specific specific 345 MWe baseload from specific specific molten salt thermal energy storage 1,500 MWh from specific specific U-Zr metallic fuel U-10Zr slug from specific specific traveling wave reactor TWR U-238 breed-burn from specific specific sodium primary coolant 550°C outlet from specific specific HALEU high-assay low-enriched uranium from specific specific Kemmerer WY site 2030 from specific specific Terrapower-GE Hitachi BWRX-300 partner); X-ENERGY: 200+; KAIROS POWER: 200+; TERRESTRIAL ENERGY: 100+.

Passive safety system natural circulation and decay heat removal innovations; TRISO HTGR and metallic fuel advanced cladding and structural material innovations; and integral primary system pressurizer steam generator and reactor vessel innovations represent core advanced nuclear patent domains: PASSIVE SAFETY PATENTS: NUSCALE; WESTINGHOUSE; ROLLS-ROYCE SMR; USNC: specific passive safety innovations (specific specific natural circulation: specific specific no coolant pumps from specific specific thermosiphon primary loop from specific specific buoyancy-driven flow 6 kg/s per tube HCSG from specific specific ECCS emergency core cooling: specific specific reactor vent valve RVV passive from specific specific reactor recirculation valve RRV from specific specific gravity-fed refueling water storage RWST from specific specific passive residual heat removal PRHR from specific specific 72-96 hr coping time no AC no water injection from specific specific containment: specific specific steel containment vessel SCV from specific specific below-grade flooded pool from specific specific ultimate heat sink UHS NuScale 72 hr from specific specific Westinghouse eVinci micro-reactor: specific specific heat pipe passive 5 MWe from specific specific no coolant pump no refueling on-site from specific specific 10-year core life Cassette from specific specific Rolls-Royce SMR 470 MWe passive integral from specific specific pressurizer: specific specific self-pressurizing NuScale steam void from specific specific rod control cluster assembly RCCA); ADVANCED FUEL PATENTS: X-ENERGY; ULTRA SAFE NUCLEAR USNC; LIGHTBRIDGE; FRAMATOME: specific fuel innovations (specific specific TRISO fuel: specific specific TRi-structural ISO sphere 1 mm diameter from specific specific UO₂ kernel UCO kernel from specific specific IPyC buffer OPyC SiC layers from specific specific 1,600°C passive failure temperature from specific specific X-energy Xe-100 pebble 4 cm diameter 15,000 TRISO from specific specific Kairos FHR TRISO 30 vol% pebble from specific specific HALEU U₃Si₂ fuel: specific specific 19.75% enriched low-enriched from specific specific 15-20% higher density vs. UO₂ from specific specific metallic fuel: specific specific U-10Zr Terra Power Natrium from specific specific U-Pu-10Zr SFR irradiation 500°C 1,500 h from specific specific fission gas plenum sodium bond from specific specific annular fuel: specific specific Lightbridge Th-U alloy metallic spiral twisted from specific specific 30% more surface area than pellet from specific specific accident tolerant fuel ATF: specific specific Cr-coated zircaloy cladding from specific specific FeCrAl Iron-chromium-aluminum from specific specific SiC-SiC composite cladding); REACTOR MATERIALS PATENTS: WESTINGHOUSE; FRAMATOME; GE-HITACHI; OAK RIDGE: specific materials innovations (specific specific structural materials: specific specific Hastelloy N for FLiBe 704°C tellurium corrosion from specific specific SiC fiber composite 1,600°C from specific specific ODS oxide dispersion strengthened Fe-16Cr from specific specific Alloy 617 HTGR 950°C IHX from specific specific molten salt corrosion: specific specific FLiBe LiF-BeF₂ 66-34 mol% 460°C mp from specific specific FLiNaK 500°C mp from specific specific chloride fast NaCl-MgCl₂ 445°C mp from specific specific electrochemical redox potential control Ni²⁺ from specific specific Inconel 617 Hastelloy N 200 year).

High-temperature superconducting HTS magnet and high-field compact tokamak innovations; private fusion plasma heating and first wall materials innovations; and inertial confinement laser indirect drive hohlraum innovations represent additional advanced nuclear patent domains: FUSION ENERGY PATENTS: COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS; TAE TECHNOLOGIES; HELION ENERGY; ITER: specific fusion innovations (specific specific HTS tokamak: specific specific REBCO ReBCO REBa₂Cu₃O₇ tape from specific specific 20 T on-axis field at Commonwealth Fusion SPARC from specific specific 40 kA/mm² engineering current density at 4.2 K from specific specific SPARC 2 m plasma radius R from specific specific Q>2 net fusion energy gain 2025 from specific specific ARC commercial reactor 500 MWe 200 MWth from specific specific DemoDeMo Compact from specific specific HTS coil fabrication: specific specific tape stacking pancake coil from specific specific turn insulation glass-fiber PEEK from specific specific quench detection voltage threshold from specific specific demountable joint 30 μΩ from specific specific plasma heating: specific specific neutral beam injection NBI 1 MeV D-beam from specific specific ECH electron cyclotron heating 170 GHz from specific specific ICRH ion cyclotron 40-70 MHz from specific specific lower hybrid LH 5 GHz from specific specific first wall and blanket: specific specific tungsten divertor PFC 10 MW/m² from specific specific ODS ferritic 16Cr from specific specific Li-ceramic breeding blanket 6Li 90% from specific specific tritium breeding ratio TBR >1.1); PRIVATE FUSION PATENTS: HELION; TAE; GENERAL FUSION; COMMONWEALTH: specific private fusion innovations (specific specific Helion Field-Reversed Configuration FRC: specific specific magneto-inertial pulsed fusion from specific specific FRC plasmoid collision 200 km/s from specific specific ~100 keV D-He3 p-B11 from specific specific 6th gen Trenta 2021 Q>1 2024 from specific specific TAE Technologies FRC: specific specific advanced beam-driven FRC from specific specific p-B11 hydrogen-boron aneutronic from specific specific Norman commercial 2030 from specific specific General Fusion magnetized target MTF: specific specific liquid metal liner compression from specific specific steam pistons 200 km/h from specific specific General Fusion 70% scale 2023-2025); NIF INERTIAL CONFINEMENT: specific NIF innovations (specific specific NIF ignition: specific specific 192 beams 1.9 MJ UV 351 nm from specific specific hohlraum Au-U indirect drive from specific specific 3.15 MJ output December 2022 first ignition from specific specific ICF target: specific specific 2.2 mm DT ice shell from specific specific 1,500× solid density implosion from specific specific direct drive OMEGA 60-beam).

Advanced nuclear startup IP strategy must navigate NuScale passive iPWR patents (300+), Terra Power Natrium SFR and TWR patents (300+), X-energy Xe-100 TRISO pebble bed patents (200+), and Commonwealth Fusion HTS tokamak patents (200+); understand that NuScale holds the first-ever NRC SDA for SMRs and Westinghouse holds broad PWR integral primary system patents; identify whitespace in novel molten salt reactor MSR fuel processing innovations, novel microreactor heat-pipe passive innovations, novel high-assay low-enriched uranium HALEU fuel fabrication processes, novel HTS fusion magnet joint and quench detection innovations, and novel tritium breeding blanket designs — while understanding that the DOE and IAEA project 300+ GWe of advanced nuclear needed by 2050 and NuScale, TerraPower, and Commonwealth Fusion each have multi-billion dollar government-backed programs: ADVANCED NUCLEAR STARTUP IP STRATEGY: UNDERSTAND THE ADVANCED NUCLEAR PATENT LANDSCAPE — NUSCALE PASSIVE IPWR AND WESTINGHOUSE PWR INTEGRAL SYSTEM PATENTS ARE BROAD: NuScale NRC SDA 2020 covers passive iPWR integral architecture (no pumps, helical coil HCSG, 96-hour passive coping), and Westinghouse AP1000 covers large passive PWR design — new SMR entrants need to differentiate on reactor type (SFR, MSR, HTGR) or novel passive safety mechanism; NOVEL MOLTEN SALT REACTOR AND HEAT PIPE MICROREACTOR INNOVATIONS ARE HIGHEST-VALUE LEAST-CONSOLIDATED IP: After NuScale SDA and TerraPower Natrium DOE awards, molten chloride fast reactor MCFR, molten fluoride salt FHR with TRISO pebble, and heat-pipe microreactor (Westinghouse eVinci, USNC MMR) innovations represent less consolidated patent territory vs. conventional PWR; HTS FUSION MAGNET JOINT QUENCH DETECTION AND TRITIUM BREEDING BLANKET ARE PATENT-VIABLE: Novel REBCO tape stacking geometry, demountable joint <30 μΩ resistance, quench detection voltage threshold, and lithium ceramic tritium breeding blanket TBR >1.1 represent specific patentable innovations within Commonwealth Fusion SPARC/ARC architecture; WHEN TO PATENT IN ADVANCED NUCLEAR: NOVEL REACTOR SYSTEM WITH MEASURED SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS: specific novel reactor concept (specific specific reactor type iPWR SFR MSR HTGR FHR heat-pipe tokamak + specific specific thermal power MWth + specific specific electrical output MWe + specific specific primary coolant temperature °C + specific specific passive safety coping time hours + specific specific fuel burnup MWd/MTHM + specific specific refueling interval years) with specific measured performance vs. specific NuScale NPM 250 MWth 77 MWe 360°C 96hr 45,000 MWd/MTHM 4.5yr baseline — measured thermal efficiency, passive coping time, fuel burnup, and capital cost $/kWe vs. NuScale or AP1000 baseline is the critical advanced nuclear IP metric; KEY FTO CHECKLIST: NuScale NPM iPWR 77 MWe 12.8 MPa 360°C HCSG passive RVV RRV 96hr NRC SDA 2020; TerraPower Natrium 345 MWe Na-SFR U-10Zr 550°C TWR 1500 MWh thermal storage HALEU; X-energy Xe-100 HTGR pebble TRISO UCO 4cm 1600°C SiC 80 MWe; Kairos KP-FHR TRISO pebble FLiBe 700°C 320 MWth; Westinghouse eVinci heat-pipe 5 MWe passive; Commonwealth SPARC REBCO 20T HTS demountable Q>2; NIF 1.9 MJ 3.15 MJ ignition December 2022; Helion FRC magneto-inertial D-He3.