Uvation considers SOLO microreactors for data centres

The company says it anticipates that its SOLO reactor design - which was conceptualised in 2018 and engineered over the last seven years - will be available globally within the next three years. The factory-built, scalable reactor is built from commercial off-the-shelf components, minimising supply chain risks and providing cost certainty. Each unit is designed to deliver around 1 MWe (5 MWt). The design features a solid heterogeneous composite moderator and is intended to accommodate both traditional zircaloy-clad low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel or, when available, LEU+ and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuels, using helium gas as the coolant.

"Uvation's data centre expansion requires infrastructure that is not only scalable, but fundamentally resilient. By integrating Terra Innovatum's SOLO micro-modular reactor, we will offer a behind-the-meter energy source capable of delivering safe, stable, high-density power that traditional grids cannot guarantee," said Terra Innovatum co-founder and CEO Alessandro Petruzzi. "SOLO adds built-in safety and provides redundancy - important for data centres, de-risking energy deployment during maintenance or shutdowns, ensuring continuity independent of power shortages, and enhancing cybersecurity protection. This enables next-generation, high-performance modular data centres powered by a clean, uninterrupted energy backbone – unlocking new possibilities for AI, HPC, and mission-critical workloads."

Giordano Morichi, Terra Innovatum founding partner, Chief Business Development Officer and Investor Relations, added: "As AI infrastructure outpaces today's grid, the constraint is no longer processing power – it's reliable, cost-effective power. Uvation's future commitment to behind-the-meter nuclear reflects a broader market reality: energy security now defines the speed at which AI can scale. SOLO fast-tracks AI commercialisation by providing near-instant, CO2-free, revenue-generating power while sidestepping the delays and capex overruns inherent to traditional grid-dependent solutions. This agreement also strengthens our commercial deployment and positions nuclear as the most viable path to support Uvation's planned multi-gigawatt growth in the AI and data centre sector."

"Global demand for AI, driven by the US, and the need for sovereign cloud infrastructure is accelerating far faster than the available power to support it. Some of our off-takers forecast demand exceeding 1 GW, yet current infrastructure and lack of readily available access to energy limit the scale of deployments," said Reen Singh, CEO of Uvation. "Power shortages have been major forces in this industry's project delays. By integrating Terra Innovatum's SOLO reactor into our future roadmap, we will look to secure immediate power along with a reliable, behind-the-meter energy source that enables scalable AI, inference, and edge deployments. Our future 1 MWe SOLO pilot programme represents a critical first step, with a path to expand to 100 MWe across multiple sites and potentially several megawatt-scale installations throughout the US."

Last month, Terra Innovatum signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based energy solutions provider Ameresco, to establish a comprehensive framework for siting, development, construction, integration, operation, and decommissioning planning of the SOLO micro-modular reactor.

Terra Innovatum is currently engaged in pre-application activities with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and on 29 September it said it had submitted "key regulatory documents" which are under legal review by the regulator. 

In July, Terra Innovatum announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Rock City Admiral Parkway Development in Illinois to host the first deployment site for its SOLO reactor with an option to deploy up to 50 on the site in the future. The reactor(s) would supply power to the businesses operating at the park.