Elemental Nuclear has announced approval of a Strategic Partnership Project with the US Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia Labs) to develop supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂)–based Brayton Cycle Generator systems.
The approval paves the way for collaboration between the parties on designing, constructing and demonstrating advanced sCO₂ power generation technology at two distinct system scales.
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Sandia National Laboratories, which operates an sCO₂ test facility, has expertise in closed-loop, recompression Brayton cycle systems and components.
The initial focus of the partnership will be a 1MWe natural-gas-and-waste-heat-fired power and cooling system. This system is intended to provide energy solutions for small modular data centres and remote military sites.
Following development of the initial unit, Elemental Nuclear plans to pursue a larger, 10MWe-scale system.
This scaled-up generator will be engineered to accept heat from sources including the Elemental ISTR nuclear reactor.
The company targets applications such as behind-the-metre power for data centres, microgrids and industrial clients.
Elemental Nuclear expects to demonstrate what it describes as the world’s first long-term deployment of sCO₂ Brayton cycle power systems at this scale.
The company anticipates the first system will be operational in 2027, with commercial system deliveries set to begin in 2028.
Elemental Nuclear CEO David Blythe said: “Approval of this Strategic Partnership Project is a major validation of Elemental’s vision and an important milestone for our company.
“Working alongside Sandia National Laboratories — the world’s foremost authority on Brayton cycle systems — we intend to prove that sCO₂ power generation can be delivered reliably and at commercial scale, as a viable source of on-site power to data centres, industrial operators and critical installations.”
According to Elemental Nuclear, the partnership aligns with its broader mission to advance nuclear and next-generation power conversion technologies.
The company aims to meet increasing electricity demands from sectors such as data centres and other energy-intensive industries.
