Terrestrial Energy Inc. saw its stock rise 18% on Wednesday after the company disclosed a memorandum of understanding with Riot Platforms to explore pairing Terrestrial Energy’s Generation IV Integral Molten Salt Reactor - IMSR - Plants with Riot-built data centers. The partnership targets data center deployments that would support artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications.
The memorandum calls for the companies to assess multiple locations for co-locating IMSR Plants alongside Riot data centers, including existing Riot facilities in Texas and Kentucky. If advanced through development, the plan could result in multiple 390 MW IMSR Plants being sited with Riot projects - a cumulative potential of up to 4 GW of nuclear power capacity.
The collaboration links Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR technology with Riot’s experience in developing and operating hyperscale data centers. Riot’s development capabilities cited in the agreement span design, engineering, construction, and operations - functions the company would bring to potential data center projects paired with IMSR Plants.
Terrestrial Energy describes the IMSR Plant architecture as including a Thermal and Electric Facility that contains non-nuclear energy conversion systems that are remote and isolated from the regulated nuclear systems. That separation is part of the plant’s design and is intended to enable hybrid energy configurations.
Under those hybrid configurations, the design permits the use of natural gas or other fuel sources to support early operations and to provide resilience during project buildout. The memorandum explicitly notes the potential to incorporate natural gas as a bridge fuel for commercial operations on an accelerated timeline that would run alongside the development of IMSR Plants.
Terrestrial Energy is pursuing IMSR Plant projects at multiple sites across the United States. The company’s supply chain relies on standard-assay low enriched uranium - SALEU - fuel enriched to less than 5% U235. Using SALEU avoids the supply chain considerations associated with high-assay low enriched uranium - HALEU - referenced in the agreement as an issue other Generation IV reactors face.
Market reaction was immediate for Terrestrial Energy stock following the announcement. The memorandum frames a path for evaluating co-located nuclear generation alongside data center construction and operations, while allowing for hybrid energy approaches during early commercial phases.
Summary of the announcement
- Terrestrial Energy and Riot Platforms signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate co-locating IMSR Plants with Riot data centers focused on AI and HPC workloads.
- Potential deployment contemplated multiple 390 MW IMSR Plants, representing up to 4 GW of nuclear capacity, at sites including Riot facilities in Texas and Kentucky.
- The IMSR Plant design supports hybrid energy configurations and allows the potential use of natural gas as a bridge fuel during earlier commercial operations.
Market context and next steps
The memorandum initiates an evaluation process; it does not by itself constitute a firm construction or procurement commitment. The assessment will consider multiple sites and the feasibility of co-locating nuclear generation with Riot’s data center developments.