US-based laser enrichment technology developer LIS (Laser Isotope Separation) Technologies (LIST) has closed its 120% oversubscribed $22m Series A funding round, attracting participation from 28 Ventures Fund (a returning investor), Innovating Capital, Minetta Brook Capital, other prominent advanced nuclear technology investors, and insiders. LIST said that, due to overwhelming demand, the Series A funding round was expanded and oversubscribed by 120%, highlighting strong investor confidence.
The Company’s proprietary Condensation Repression Isotope Selective Laser Activation (CRISLA) technology is the only proven US-origin and patented advanced laser enrichment solution. It is optimised for low-enriched uranium (LEU), which is needed for the continued operation of the US current fleet of 94 nuclear reactors. It is also optimised for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), required to power the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors. LIST said CRISLA overcomes many of the complexities and limitations of traditional 16 µm CO2 lasers by featuring instead a streamlined design due to its lower absorption and shorter wavelength at 5.3µm.
With high throughput, high duty cycle and reduced complexity compared with competing technologies, LIST projects highly competitive capital and operational costs. The process was previously demonstrated in the 1980s and 90s and is protected by a patent from the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).
“The patented, proprietary technology behind LIST represents the culmination of my life’s work, dating back to the 1970s, said Dr Jeff W Eerkens, LIST Co-Founder and CTO. “It is incredibly humbling and exhilarating to witness the resurgence of the nuclear industry in the United States and to play a pivotal role in its advancement through the revitalisation of the CRISLA technology.… I am confident that we can build on this momentum to secure a leading position in the US nuclear fuel supply chain.”
LIST CEO Christo Liebenberg said the robust backing from investors “reflects a broad recognition that establishing a domestic source of enriched uranium is essential to maintaining the United States’ global leadership” He added: “Revitalising our patented enrichment technology has the potential to become the worlds’ first 3rd generation laser-based enrichment process on a commercial scale…. This funding round is a critical step towards that goal.”
LIST said the funds raised in the Series A round will be utilised to advance physical test work and Test-Loop demonstrations at the company’s secured facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The funding round will also start the initial R&D process of LIST’s next generation 5.3µm CO2 lasers. Additionally, LIST will continue expanding its leadership and technical teams with best-in-class personnel to oversee the regulatory and licensing progression of its technology and advance its cooperation with the US government oversight bodies in the event the technology is classified by the Department of Energy.
Jay Yu, LIST Executive Chairman & President said the advancement and subsequent deployment of the CRISLA technology “is crucial to the nation’s domestic nuclear energy industry” by helping to secure the future fuel supply existing reactors and enabling the timely rollout of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactor technologies, including small modular reactors and microreactors.
