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Old school nuclear plants are being replaced by small and advanced modular reactors.

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The push to accelerate the development of new-age modular nuclear reactors is going to cause a surge in helium demand, experts say.

The UK and US recently signed the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, aimed at halving regulatory approval times and accelerating deployment of small modular reactors (SMR) and advanced modular reactors (AMR).

Unlike SMRs, which are water-cooled nuclear reactors, advanced modular reactors use gases such as helium as a coolant.

Helium’s potential in the energy sector, through nuclear, is not widely known. It can allow a reactor to operate at much higher temperatures, leading to higher electricity generation. Another bonus is the potential to recycle the heat from the high operating temperate into electricity.

The Atlantic partnership will be key in driving helium usage upwards as it will make it quicker for companies to build new nuclear power stations, hopefully halving regulatory approvals from four years to two. In practice, it means that if a reactor has already passed safety checks in one country, that work can be used to support the work of the other.

Akap Energy reported the helium upside, saying the reactors, also being looked at by private investors to drive AI and data centre power needs,  are expected to gain momentum as regulations ease.

"With both countries backing designs from Rolls-Royce, X-Energy, and others, faster build-out of SMRs and AMRs will directly increase helium consumption in tandem with nuclear sector growth," Akap said.

In its coverage of the Atlantic partnership, Britain’s BBC highlighted the issues it would help resolve.

"X-Energy wants to build (an AMR) in the US but, after announcing a partnership with US chemicals and plastics giant Dow in 2021, it has taken until March this year to submit a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the project in Texas."

No helium is currently produced in Australia, and Gold Hydrogen intends a second round of drilling at its South Australia tenement soon, where high levels of helium were found last year, to drive a pilot project towards commercialisation.

BBC coverage here and Akap Energy story here.

Nuclear to spark helium demand