In this blogpost, we explore the topic of energy transmutation and how a new state-of-the art in RF technology has a role to play.

If you read our website and other blog posts, you’ll see we talk a lot about how microwave and radio frequency can be used to create heat for industrial processes. We also talk about how the application of that technology has historically remained niche due to the limitations of legacy technology. A major problem of legacy RF technology has always been the outright power available from tube-based RF generators, typically topping out in the range of a few hundred kilowatts. However, as we develop a new state-of-the-art, using solid-state technology, we obliterate those previous limitations, enabling the use of RF for new use cases and processes.

One of those new processes is energy transmutation. Swiss start-up, Transmutex, is a company reinventing nuclear energy from first principles. Transmutex's technology represents a significant advancement in carbon-free energy generation, aiming to create an entirely new, sustainable and safe, nuclear energy solution.

Todays’ nuclear reactors are based on the fission of uranium. As the world knows, this can be unstable to the point of explosion. It also creates plutonium (the raw material for nuclear weapons) and generates significant quantities of radioactive waste that remains problematic for hundreds of thousands of years.

In addressing the safety concerns and nuclear waste management issues associated with uranium, Transmutex transforms nuclear waste mixed with thorium into carbon-free energy. Thorium is a common metal considered a waste by-product from rare-earth mining and also found in high-concentrations in the coal ashes of power plants. Thorium marries well with long-lived nuclear waste to transform them into more "civilised" short-lived elements that will decay within 300 years; less time than it takes for CO2 to dissolve in the atmosphere, or for a plastic bottle or a cigarette butt to degrade in the ocean.

Transmutex innovatively combines the thorium mix with a particle accelerator to facilitate subcritical fission reactions, eliminating the risk of uncontrolled chain reactions. Unlike conventional nuclear reactor designs, Transmutex's system ensures immediate reactor shutdown upon deactivation of the particle accelerator. This can take place within milliseconds, massively reducing the potential for catastrophic accidents.

Transmutex’s accelerators will require tens of megawatts of RF power to drive their accelerators and Transmutex is in consultation with SolidWatts for the provision of the solid-state power amplifier solutions capable of this. Says Transmutex CEO, Franklin Servan-Schrieber;

“We know that RF power amplifiers in the continuous multi-megawatt power level are not standard equipment. The solutions that exist today are expensive, one-off custom designs - usually for research purposes - and rarely exceed the megawatt level. We will need tens of megawatts, delivered in a cost-effective way. Whilst some engineering work will be required to operate at the frequencies we need, we are confident your (SolidWatts’) platform technology and its underlying design will be significantly cheaper than custom-built solutions. As a result, we expect savings in the order of tens of millions CHF per realised reactor compared to a custom solution.”

Whilst thorium-based transmutation cannot be developed and delivered overnight, it is clear that bold ideas and highly motivated teams have the potential for substantial impact on the world's journey to net zero. We at SolidWatts are excited for the future as we transition industry from fossil fuels to sustainable electric for a brighter tomorrow.

If you also have big, bold ideas for energy transition, process innovation and decarbonisation, please contact us. We’d be happy to listen, talk and explore.