The German-Canadian nuclear technology company Dual Fluid has published a whitepaper explaining the Dual Fluid technology and its potential to reduce energy costs. The paper focuses on the high efficiency of the new reactor design that can cut today’s electricity or hydrogen costs by half.
Uranium contains millions of times more energy than fossil fuels – but today’s nuclear technology can hardly exploit this potential: 99 percent of mined natural uranium is disposed of unused as nuclear waste. With its novel nuclear reactor, nuclear technology company Dual Fluid aims to radically improve fuel utilization and thus reduce energy prices.
Dual Fluid explains the technology behind this in a new whitepaper available from the company website. In addition to a generally understandable presentation of the operating principle, it also explains the safety concept and the efficiency of the new design. While high efficiency has long been sought on the consumer side, e.g. in electrical appliances, this idea has been lacking on the power-generating side so far. Dual Fluid significantly increases the efficiency of nuclear power. This results in cost advantages: electricity and hydrogen could be produced with Dual Fluid technology at about half the current price.
CEO Götz Ruprecht: “Energy is essential. A modern energy supply must be low-emission, reliable and cost-competitive to enable creativity and growth. New nuclear power that actually uses the full potential of uranium as a fuel can make that possible.” Dual Fluid aims to have a prototype ready by the end of the decade and start series production soon after. This would enable full-scale decarbonization by 2050 while maintaining economic strength and high living standards.
Press contact: Lisa Rass
(+49) 1577-1911784
media@dual-fluid.com
About Dual Fluid
Dual Fluid is creating an entirely new type of nuclear reactor that
Dual Fluid differs from other new nuclear concepts by its high efficiency: the nuclear fuel is utilized up to a hundred times better than in today’s light water reactors. The operating temperature of 1000° C enables new heat applications.
The Dual Fluid operating principle, based on different fluids for fuel and cooling, is described in scientific publications. There is worldwide patent protection, including in the USA, Canada, the EU and Japan.
Dual Fluid Energy Inc. was incorporated as a public company in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021 to bring the Dual Fluid technology to serial production status. The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade.
The Canadian-German nuclear engineering company Dual Fluid is now an official contributor to the Canadian Small Modular Reactors (SMR) Action Plan. The goal of the action plan is to develop and deploy small modular reactors as fast as possible. To this end, the government is bringing together stakeholders from energy supply, industry, academia and civil society.
Canada considers small modular reactors (SMRs) a promising technology with possible economic, geopolitical, social and environmental benefits. It is Canada’s declared intention to lead the world in SMR development. According to the Canadian government’s decision, new nuclear power will help phase out coal and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In addition, carbon intensive industries such as mining and oil production are to be electrified with the help of nuclear power. Minister Seamus O’Regan emphasizes the opportunities of SMRs for Canada: Besides lowering emissions, they enable the global economy to continue to grow and create an energy future that leaves no one behind.
Götz Ruprecht, CEO of Dual Fluid: “With the SMR Action Plan, Canada is showing responsibility and a sense of reality. We are pleased to be part of it with our new reactor development. Our mission is clean and affordable energy. Together with the other Action Plan stakeholders, we can make it come true even faster.”
Press contact: Lisa Rass
(+49) 1577-1911784
media@dual-fluid.com
About Dual Fluid
Dual Fluid is creating an entirely new type of nuclear reactor that
Dual Fluid differs from other new nuclear concepts by its high efficiency: the nuclear fuel is utilized up to a hundred times better than in today’s light water reactors. The operating temperature of 1000° C enables new heat applications.
The Dual Fluid operating principle, based on different fluids for fuel and cooling, is described in scientific publications. There is worldwide patent protection, including in the USA, Canada, the EU and Japan.
Dual Fluid Energy Inc. was incorporated as a public company in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021 to bring the Dual Fluid technology to serial production status. The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade.
Friedrich Merz, the new leader of the German conservatives, announces open discussions “without prejudice” about possible new uses of nuclear energy. In that context, he highlights the German-Canadian nuclear technology company Dual Fluid.
The CDU soon wants to “deal in great detail with all questions of the energy industry and energy production,” Merz said last week at a meeting of CDU and CSU parliamentary group leaders. “That concerns gas-fired power plants, but that also concerns fusion energy, that also concerns the latest forms of energy generation from nuclear fission.”
The question, he said, is how to supply companies and private households “securely, cheaply and reliably with energy, especially electricity, in the long term,” given the need for decarbonization. He added that the CDU would look into these issues in greater depth.
Merz referred to new technological developments such as nuclear fusion and the Dual Fluid Reactor. There, “for example, spent fuel rods could be reused and their half-life significantly reduced.”
CEO Götz Ruprecht welcomes Merz’s initiative: “If we want clean and affordable energy, we need rational decisions and open discussion. Our technology is low in emissions and so efficient that it can cut electricity costs by half compared to fossil and renewable energies. We can be an important part of the future energy mix.”
Press contact: Lisa Raß
(+49) 1577-1911784
media@dual-fluid.com
About Dual Fluid
Dual Fluid is creating an entirely new type of nuclear reactor that
Dual Fluid differs from other new nuclear concepts by its high efficiency: the nuclear fuel is utilized up to a hundred times better than in today’s light water reactors. The operating temperature of 1000° C enables new heat applications.
The Dual Fluid operating principle, based on different fluids for fuel and cooling, is described in scientific publications. There is worldwide patent protection, including in the USA, Canada, the EU and Japan. Dual Fluid Energy Inc. was incorporated as a public company in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021 to bring the Dual Fluid technology to serial production status. The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade.
Dual Fluid has contracted the Technical University of Dresden to analyze the stability of the Dual Fluid Reactor. A working group at the Chair of Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy has been calculating the power unfolding in the reactor since the end of last year.
The calculations of the TU Dresden on the Dual Fluid Reactor under the direction of Prof. Antonio Hurtado and Dr. Carsten Lange represent the power unfolding in the reactor in different operating states. The aim is to develop and validate calculation methods that will be used to demonstrate the safety of the reactor. In addition, first data on the incident response (transient analyses) are to be obtained. The results will be summarized in a safety report as required by the IAEA and the Canadian licensing authority.
The scientific head of the working group, Dr. Carsten Lange, about the work on the dual fluid reactor: “The simulation tasks are an exciting and challenging project for our chair. It is a completely new reactor design that has little to do with light water reactors and is therefore also very interesting for our students. Regardless of many challenges that a new reactor design brings, the concept is promising from a reactor physics and resource ecology perspective. We are pleased to contribute to its development.” The Chair of Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy at TU Dresden has been conducting analyses on the stability of power reactors for years and can refer to special expertise in the dynamic behavior of complex nuclear systems.
CEO Götz Ruprecht on the cooperation: “This independent study by a renowned academic institute is an important step for the upcoming licensing. It will show the authorities that all possible operating situations have been fully thought through.”
Press contact: Lisa Raß
(+49) 1577-1911784
media@dual-fluid.com
About Dual Fluid
Dual Fluid is creating an entirely new type of nuclear reactor that
Dual Fluid differs from other new nuclear concepts by its high efficiency: the nuclear fuel is utilized up to a hundred times better than in today’s light water reactors. The operating temperature of 1000° C enables new heat applications.
The Dual Fluid operating principle, based on different fluids for fuel and cooling, is described in scientific publications. There is worldwide patent protection, including in the USA, Canada, the EU and Japan.
Dual Fluid Energy Inc. was incorporated as a public company in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021 to bring the Dual Fluid technology to serial production status. The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade.
Dual Fluid, the German-Canadian nuclear startup, has brought a high-profile advisory board to its side. The board, consisting of internationally experienced experts from the fields of energy, corporate management and finance, will advise the company on its strategic development from now on.
The following personalities will support the company in the future with their expertise and network:
The advisory board will provide critical and constructive support to the company and reflect on its development. “We are very pleased to have such experienced, high-profile and well-connected advisors at our side,” says CEO Götz Ruprecht. “We are counting on them to provide important impulses for our next challenges, especially in the areas of financing and international business development.”
Axel Hörger, chairman of the advisory board, is convinced that nuclear power is the key to many current problems. Dual Fluid has a real unique selling point among all suppliers of new nuclear power, he says: “Dual Fluid promises to produce not only clean but also very cheap energy through its efficient design. That will convince both investors and markets.”
Press contact: Lisa Raß
(+49) 1577-1911784
media@dual-fluid.com
About Dual Fluid
The Dual Fluid technology enables an inherently safe nuclear reactor that
The operating principle of the fundamentally new Dual Fluid design is described in peer-reviewed scientific publications. There is worldwide patent protection, including in the U.S., Canada, the EU and Japan.
Dual Fluid Energy Inc. was incorporated as a public company in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021 to bring Dual Fluid technology to serial production status. Development will take place in Germany and Canada. The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade.
The German-Canadian nuclear technology company Dual Fluid, founded in January 2021, has successfully completed its first investment round. The round was fully subscribed as planned. Private investors raised almost 7 million Canadian dollars.
Armin Huke, President & CTO, comments: “We are pleased that our business is privately financed only. This is a vote of confidence from the capital market that exceeds our expectations.”
With the raised funds, the nuclear start-up wants to grow its staff and build its own premises where it can bring the novel Dual Fluid reactor to serial production status faster. This includes building laboratory capacity as well as collaborating with well-known research institutions on a first safety analysis in accordance with international regulatory standards. In this context, very rarely occurring operating states will be investigated in detail with the help of mathematical models. The findings will be used for the upcoming approval process. CEO Götz Ruprecht says: “Our physical simulation calculations have already shown that the Dual Fluid reactor is feasible and inherently safe. The aim now is to prepare for the licensing process and start with practical tests.”
A nuclear recycling plant that can separate so-called nuclear wastes efficiently and strictly according to type is also part of the overall concept. Combined with the Dual Fluid reactor, this renders a geological final repository obsolete. With the existing nuclear waste alone, Dual Fluid could fully supply all several industrialised countries with electricity for hundreds of years.
The next investment round is to be in one and a half to two years’ time and will also address institutional investors.
Dual Fluid Energy Inc. is now a Canadian company based in Vancouver. The management team has been reorganized for this purpose. The first round of financing for institutional investors will start soon.
The German nuclear technology startup Dual Fluid has decided to become a Canadian company. There are many arguments in favor of this move: the Canadian government promotes modular reactors (SMR) as a technology of the future, while the population predominantly sees nuclear power as an opportunity. The country is experienced in nuclear technology and, unlike Germany, can look back on uninterrupted expertise. Last but not least, there is an internationally recognized nuclear licensing authority. The leading Board of Directors consists of:
Dual Fluid is currently preparing its first round of financing for institutional investors. The funds raised will be used, among other things, to commission an internationally renowned institute with safety calculations – a prerequisite for subsequent licensing.
Despite the Canadian legal form, Dual Fluid plans to use Germany as a base for the foreseeable future, says Chairman Armin Huke: “Depending on how conditions change here, we could at least partially advance development here. If not, our destination is set.”
The liquid nuclear technology of the German company Dual Fluid promises to convert nuclear waste into energy. The available waste could supply all of Germany with low-emission electricity for hundreds of years. A geological final repository would become obsolete. This is possible thanks to a globally unique reactor design based on two circulating fluids. As a result, any fissile material can be recycled very efficiently – from thorium or natural uranium to nuclear waste. “Nuclear waste is a highly concentrated recyclable material that we should definitely put to use,” says Armin Huke, Managing Director of Dual Fluid.
New recycling process using liquid salt distillation
For recycling, the finely ground waste is transformed into liquid salt form and then separated by distillation (partitioning). The pure elements generated by this means are fed into the fuel cycle. In the reactor core, they are converted into fissile material (transmutation) and fully utilised – for the generation of energy or heat. This recycling process would even be profitable due to the utilisation of the energy generated – in contrast to permanent storage which is expensive and produces no benefits whatsoever. The remaining ashes would subside after a few hundred years. A simple interim repository would therefore suffice for storage.
Investment costs: Half of the annual expenditure on the transition to non-fossil fuel energy
Feasibility studies are well advanced, also thanks to academic cooperations with TU Munich and Szczecin University. “No fundamental questions are left unanswered anymore,” says Götz Ruprecht, head of research at Dual Fluid. As soon as the financing is in place, component tests in the laboratory can follow. This step will cost around 40 million euros. About 10 billion euros would be needed until a prototype is built, which could still be realised within this decade. “This sounds like a huge amount – but compared to the well over 20 billion that Germany spends on the transition to solar and wind energy each year, it is small,” says Götz Ruprecht. As the state is unlikely to contribute at present, Dual Fluid will soon found a holding company.
Why liquid nuclear technology?
Modern-day reactors are very inefficient: They can only extract one per cent of energy from natural uranium, which undergoes an energy-intensive mining and refining process. The remaining 99 per cent needs to be disposed of at a high cost. Modern liquid nuclear reactors, which are being developed by several companies worldwide, can utilise nuclear fuel fully and without long-lasting wastes. Liquid nuclear technology started with the Oak Ridge reactor in the USA, which was operated successfully in the 1960s. Dual Fluid has the only concept that decisively surpasses its historical predecessor both in function and efficiency. The company holds a patent on this – the first for a reactor design since the 1960s.
Dual Fluid Company Presentation