With data centers gobbling up energy, nuclear power is getting a fresh look as a clean, flexible and reliable source of energy. The latest twist: small modular reactors, or SMRs, that can be mass-produced at shipyards and operated underwater.
Washington, DC-based Blue Energy says the permanent workforces and automated machinery at shipping yards slash construction times from 10 years to two. The company says its first modular plant cost $5,000 per kilowatt hour, compared to $13,000 per kilowatt hour for a traditional plant and Blue expects costs to fall steeply.
“The idea that nuclear is an essential part of our energy future,” said Gil Dibner of Angular Ventures, “is a great example of an idea that is transitioning from non-consensus to consensus.”
MIT-spinout Engine Ventures (formerly The Engine) and San Francisco-based At One Ventures, through its $375 million “deeptech” climate fund, co-led Blue Energy’s Series A round.
“By integrating with established reactor vendors, and existing centralized manufacturing techniques, the Blue Energy development platform unlocks low-cost economics that can rapidly scale to serve the growing demand for clean, firm power,” said Engine Ventures’ Michael Kearny.
Other investors included Angular Ventures, Tamarack Global, Propeller Ventures, Starlight Ventures and Nucleation Capital.
How it works
Blue Energy buys the modular reactors from commercial vendors. The company’s innovation is the cylindrical containers, pre-manufactured at shipyards, to house the reactors 12 feet underwater to provide a constant supply of cooling and protection from radiation. The reactor is isolated from the rest of the power plant, enabling it to shut down and cool itself without human intervention in case of an accident.
Blue Energy co-founder Jake Jurewicz helped develop the idea as a nuclear science and engineering student at MIT. Blue Energy said it had signed a letter of intent with a datacenter and cloud provider to take the energy from its first plant; the company declined to disclose the location.
