Terrestrial Energy reports US$276.3M liquidity as nuclear spending rises
The Army-related opportunity remains subject to lease negotiations, while the reactor developer expects spending on its pilots to increase.
Ines Halvorsen
At Sept. 30, US$276.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments remained at Terrestrial Energy Inc. NASDAQIMSR, which reported US$7.1 million in quarterly cash burn in its results on Tuesday. Fuel development and testing drove a US$0.7 million increase from the June quarter. Terrestrial develops nuclear plants to supply electricity and high-temperature industrial heat.
The September-quarter net loss widened to US$11.0 million from US$9.4 million in the June quarter, according to the Nov. 10 release. Research and development expense increased by US$0.9 million, including fuel testing and Texas A&M-RELLIS lease costs. General and administrative expense rose by US$0.5 million because of stock-based compensation associated with awards to new hires.
Its Army-related opportunity involves Ameresco, Inc. NYSEAMRC, which said on Sept. 21 it had been selected for exclusive negotiations on long-term leases. The proposed Aberdeen Proving Ground development in Maryland remains subject to final agreements and required approvals.
Terrestrial shares closed at US$3.00 at 4:00 p.m. EST on Nov. 9 on Nasdaq NASDAQIMSR, before Tuesday's results.
Liquidity declined from US$283.4 million at June 30. The Nov. 10 release reported no debt and US$8.6 million in liabilities at quarter end. It also disclosed a subsequent authorization to repurchase up to US$25 million of common shares using existing cash.
"The Company expects cash burn to increase as it ramps projects in future quarters, including TETRA and TEFLA," the company said in the Nov. 10 release.
Army Leases Require Final Agreements
Ameresco's Sept. 21 announcement places the proposed molten-salt reactor deployment in Aberdeen's second phase, alongside a broader development potentially including natural gas generation. It describes private partners as responsible for financing, designing, building, operating, securing and decommissioning the facilities.
Ameresco said construction would await environmental and regulatory reviews, including the National Environmental Policy Act process and other federal, state and local permitting. Its announcement gives no lease duration or nuclear construction start date.
In its Jan. 22 announcement, Terrestrial said it executed an Other Transaction Authority agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy for the TEFLA pilot fuel-salt facility. The facility would supply its TETRA test reactor.
The January release says TEFLA would demonstrate fuel-salt production at pilot scale using standard-assay low-enriched uranium as feedstock. Under the agreement, DOE would review the pilot plant's design and authorize its operation.
Terrestrial's Nov. 10 results also reported that engineering work had begun under an engineering services agreement supporting site characterization and construction-permit application work at Texas A&M-RELLIS.
Read more: Oklo reserves reactor component capacity for deliveries beginning in 2030
The company said it submitted a graphite-qualification methodology report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After quarter end, it submitted a Thermal and Electric Facility report seeking NRC confirmation that this facility is non-nuclear and can be constructed and operated without NRC permits or licences. Those submissions were not reviewed for this article.
Terrestrial's Aug. 11 update targeted first commercial IMSR plants in the early 2030s; its November results describe fleet deployment during that decade. The next scheduled update is its Nov. 10 results call at 8:30 a.m. EST.
