Nuclear Power Startup Enters Agreement with NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence to Advise on Micro-Nuclear Applications for NATO Installations

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES, June 3, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Last Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based startup that builds micro-nuclear power plants, announced today a partnership with the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence (ENSEC COE) to jointly research military applications for micro-nuclear power technologies and explore opportunities for future deployment on NATO military installations.

The partnership, signed by Last Energy CEO Bret Kugelmass and NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence Director Colonel Darius Uzkuraitis, constitutes the first ever agreement between the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and a nuclear energy company. The partnership underscores both parties’ belief in the unique benefits of nuclear energy, and opens the door to future micro-nuclear power plants on NATO military installations.

“Nuclear energy is unequivocally the most reliable, abundant form of power mankind has ever discovered, and it must become the default solution for NATO militaries as they navigate a new era of great power competition,” said Kugelmass. “No other resource is capable of providing the kind of 24/7 energy security that’s mission critical on military bases, but we will only realize that potential if we miniaturize, modularize, and productize nuclear development. We’re honored to partner with the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence, and look forward to creating a roadmap for the adoption of micro-scale nuclear power across NATO installations.”

The NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence is one of 28 NATO-accredited expert bodies that advise member militaries on strategy and technologies in particular fields. Founded in 2012, the Centre works with partners in industry, academia, and government to research and develop solutions for NATO militaries in order to ensure energy resilience and efficiency as well as critical energy infrastructure safety. Under the terms of the partnership, both parties agree to work on joint projects around nuclear energy applications for NATO military installations and operations.

The Centre’s partnership with Last Energy is part of a broader pivot by NATO toward prioritizing energy security. In addition to dramatically reducing the cost and timeline of construction, micro-nuclear plants have minimal water requirements and can be sited nearly anywhere, allowing for a direct power connection and, by extension, enabling the offtaker to circumvent the traditional bandwidth restraints and price volatility of the grid.

With commercial agreements for over 65 units across Europe, Last Energy has created the largest pipeline of new nuclear projects in the world. By embracing a completely modular plant design and employing mass manufacturing techniques, Last Energy’s plant, the PWR-20, can be factory fabricated, transported, and assembled on-site within 24 months.

The PWR-20 is comprised of a few dozen modules that snap together like a Lego kit, and strategically sized to serve — and be co-located by — industrial entities including auto manufacturing plants, pulp and paper factories, as well as data centers. While a single unit produces 20 MWe of electricity (or 80 MWt of heat), Last Energy can scale its output to meet the particular needs of the offtaker. As a full-service developer, Last Energy takes end-to-end responsibility for project management, including plant design and construction, licensing, permitting, financing, and operations.

About Last Energy: Founded in 2019, Last Energy is a Washington, D.C.-based full-service developer of micro modular 20 MWe nuclear power plants with the goal of enabling global clean energy access and decarbonization in a way that is rapid, scalable, and economically competitive. Last Energy’s first product, the PWR-20 micro-nuclear power plant, is designed to address the inefficiencies that have traditionally made nuclear development prohibitively complex and expensive. By owning all aspects of plant delivery and dramatically reducing the time and cost of delivery, Last Energy is transforming the nuclear power industry to unlock clean, reliable baseload energy for industrial customers and strategic installations.

https://www.lastenergy.com/

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Matt Fossen
Last Energy
media@lastenergy.com
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