Viaro Energy partners with Terrestrial Energy to assess molten salt reactor technology for UK industrial decarbonization
London-based independent oil and gas company Viaro Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Terrestrial Energy to explore deploying Integral Molten Salt Reactor technology in the UK and international markets. Signed in 2024, the agreement tasks both companies with assessing the regulatory, economic, policy, and siting considerations that would govern industrial nuclear energy applications — a notably different direction for an upstream operator whose core business is still oil and gas production.
MOU details and scope of assessment
The 2024 MOU between Viaro and Terrestrial Energy isn’t a construction contract or a firm deployment plan. Think of it as a structured exploration — the two companies are working through regulatory, economic, policy, and siting questions to figure out whether IMSR technology could realistically be deployed in the UK or abroad.
Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR uses liquid fuel instead of solid fuel rods. Still in development, it’s among the advanced reactor concepts attracting serious attention from industrial energy users hunting for reliable, low-carbon alternatives to gas.
Reactor developers are now designing for industrial customers rather than grid operators — a meaningful shift in how the nuclear industry thinks about its market.
The potential applications under examination include supplying firm, clean power to AI data centers and energy-intensive industrial facilities — sectors where intermittent renewables often fall short. Viaro holds working interests representing up to 9% of UK gas production at peak, according to the firm, which gives it a direct stake in how industrial energy transitions unfold.
Industrial advanced nuclear consortium and why oil and gas companies are turning to nuclear
Viaro isn’t alone here. A broader coalition spanning oil and gas, mining, and steel has formed the Industrial Advanced Nuclear Consortium to examine whether advanced nuclear can replace fossil fuels for industrial energy needs.
The consortium recently published a report identifying four priority application scenarios: maritime heat and power; nuclear cogeneration for refining, petrochemicals, and LNG; remote power and heat for oil, gas, and mining; and electricity-intensive industrial loads. Each scenario reflects a real operational challenge that fossil fuels currently solve — and that decarbonization targets are making harder to justify.
What sets the consortium apart is its starting point. Rather than letting reactor developers design technology and then search for buyers, it brings industrial end users to the table first, defining what they actually need before engineering decisions get locked in. The goal is commercially viable industrial nuclear projects by 2030.
That’s an ambitious timeline. The urgency, though, is real.
The decarbonization challenge driving advanced nuclear interest
Oil and gas companies face a problem that doesn’t get discussed enough: they need to decarbonize their own operations while still supplying the heat and electricity those operations require. Gas has historically done both jobs reliably. Finding a low-carbon replacement that matches that reliability is harder than it sounds.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has put the challenge plainly. Full decarbonization of energy-intensive industries — chemicals, petrochemicals, cement, paper, and pulp — would require a far greater increase in clean heat and electricity. The IAEA has also noted that intermittent renewables require massive grid expansion, affecting stability and raising system costs, and that these factors “could severely limit industrial growth.”
That’s a significant statement, but it reflects a genuine engineering reality. Industrial facilities need continuous, high-temperature heat and reliable baseload power — something wind and solar, without substantial storage and grid infrastructure, can’t consistently deliver.
Advanced nuclear checks several boxes at once. It produces no CO2 during operation and carries one of the lowest lifecycle carbon footprints of any power source. Progress in small modular and micro modular reactor technology could also make it feasible to site nuclear capacity directly adjacent to industrial facilities, cutting dependence on large centralized plants and long transmission lines.
Broader industry context: Other companies targeting industrial nuclear
Viaro and the Industrial Advanced Nuclear Consortium are part of a wider trend. Houston-based SMR developer ZettaJoule has said it’s designing its first commercial reactor specifically to provide heat and power to oil and gas operations, with an oil refinery cited as a potential deployment location. Reactor developers are now designing for industrial customers rather than grid operators — a meaningful shift in how the nuclear industry thinks about its market.
Viaro CEO Francesco Mazzagatti has been direct about the appeal. “Its ability to provide continuous, low-carbon electricity and industrial heat makes it particularly compelling for sectors where reliability, scale and energy security are non-negotiable,” he said. He’s also framed the nuclear work as part of a two-track strategy — improving environmental performance across Viaro’s existing portfolio today, while exploring technologies that could reshape industrial energy demand tomorrow, including serving the fast-growing electricity needs of AI data centers.
The MOU with Terrestrial Energy is an exploratory agreement. Not a confirmed deployment commitment.
Candidates worth serious assessment
The Viaro-Terrestrial Energy MOU reflects a pattern taking shape across the industrial sector. Oil and gas companies are under real pressure to decarbonize their own operations, and conventional solutions — renewables, electrification, efficiency improvements — don’t always meet the reliability and heat requirements of heavy industry. Molten salt reactors and other advanced nuclear concepts are emerging as candidates worth serious assessment.
The Industrial Advanced Nuclear Consortium’s approach of defining industrial energy requirements before reactor designs are finalized is practical, and it could meaningfully accelerate deployment timelines. The 2030 target for viable industrial nuclear projects is ambitious, but commercial and regulatory groundwork is being laid now. Viaro’s agreement with Terrestrial Energy is one piece of that larger picture — exploratory in nature, grounded in a genuine industrial need.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
