ALPHATECH RESEARCH CORP (ATRC) — Detailed Research Document

Last updated: 2026-01-30

1. Company Overview

Legal name: Alpha Tech Research Corp
Location: American Fork, UT 84003 (55 S 500 E, Suite 210)
Founded by: Dr. Matthew Memmott
Structure: Two business units — AlphaTech (reactor) and SaltGen (salt production subsidiary)
Entity: Corporation (Utah)
Email: Matt.Memmott@AlphaTechResearchCorp.com

Mission

Develop and mass-produce micro molten salt nuclear reactors (ARC Reactors) to deliver safe, decentralized, ultra-cheap electricity (<$0.03/kWh), while operating a standalone salt production business supplying the broader nuclear/fusion industry.

2. Technology

ARC Reactor (Alpha Reactor Core)

Type: Micro Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)
Output: 12 MWe / 30 MWt
Reactor vessel: ~4 ft diameter × 7 ft tall (cylindrical)
Shielded footprint: 20 ft × 30 ft × 30 ft
Operating temperature: ~650°C
Delta T across turbine: ~100°C (outlet still at 550°C — usable for cogeneration)
Power conversion: Brayton cycle, supercritical CO2
Fuel: Uranium (and/or thorium) dissolved directly in molten salt — liquid fuel, not solid
Enrichment: Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU, <5%) — off-the-shelf, no HALEU dependency
Fuel cycle: ~6 years between refueling
Refueling process: Hot-swap — replacement reactor vessel brought on-site, old one shipped back to Utah facility. Downtime: hours (max 1 day).
Transportable: Road (flatbed truck), air (C-17 military aircraft), sea
Powers: ~12,000 homes per unit

Passive Safety (Physics-Based)

No meltdown possible — fuel is already liquid
Negative temperature coefficient: Salt expands when overheated → uranium particles spread apart → fission rate drops → power self-regulates
Extreme scenario: Rapid temperature spike → salt expands so fast it freezes → reaction stops completely
Breach scenario: Salt sprays out, freezes before hitting the ground (30-ft cone), traps all radioactive material. Cleanup with industrial vacuum. Reactor also freezes and stops.
No high-pressure water (unlike LWR) — operates at atmospheric pressure
No explosive gas production (no zirconium-hydrogen reaction like LWR)
No complex safety systems needed — physics does the work
Autonomous operation: Designed to run without human operators. Load-following is automatic (responds to grid demand changes via thermal expansion physics).
Current licensing requires 1 operator per site (monitoring turbine/reactor). If autonomous operation is approved, LCOE drops to ~1.5¢/kWh.

Salt Chemistry (Key Innovation)

Salt type: Lithium Fluoride, Beryllium Fluoride (FLiBe) — but no beryllium use in production (non-toxic)
Breakthrough: Identified that corrosion is caused by oxygen and hydrogen impurities in salt (not the salt itself). Previous purification (HF gas bubbling) left hydrogen behind, making salt MORE corrosive.
ATRC process: Proprietary electrochemical purification — removes O₂ and H₂ to <5 ppm (often parts per billion).
Result: Corrosivity reduced by 2 orders of magnitude. Component lifespan extended from ~5 years to 500–1,000 years.
Validation: 5-6 national labs and universities tested and validated the decrease in corrosivity.
IP: Patents on reactor and salt purification components + trade secrets (air-gapped data room, sealed). Most valuable know-how kept as trade secrets intentionally.

Waste Processing

Electrochemical extraction: Can selectively plate out each of the 52 fission product elements one at a time by adjusting voltage.
Products: Gold, zirconium, molybdenum, medical isotopes (Bismuth-213 for targeted alpha therapy — 91%+ cancer treatment success rates at Sloan Kettering), rare earth elements, industrial isotopes.
Net waste: Effectively zero — all fission products have market value.
Fuel recycling: Uranium and transuranics stay in the salt (weapons proliferation safe). Only fission products extracted. Fuel is topped up with a few kg of new uranium every 6 years.
Thorium future: Long-term transition to thorium fuel (more abundant, cheaper, no enrichment needed, no long-lived transuranics, produces Bismuth-213 for cancer treatment). Timeline: ~40 years for full fleet transition.

Cogeneration Capabilities

After power conversion, salt is still at 550°C — usable for:
Carbon product creation (Fischer-Tropsch synthesis)
Water desalination
District heating
Shale oil topping
Various chemical processes

3. Salt Business (SaltGen)

Operations

Location: 20,000 sq ft warehouse, Linden, Utah
Current capacity: Lab/small-scale (kg quantities)
Target: 1 ton/day production facility by Q2 2026 (~May 2026)
Scale-up plan: Linear — build identical facilities. Target 10 facilities (10 tons/day) to meet demand.
Products: FLiBe (lithium fluoride beryllium fluoride), other fluoride salts, UF4 fuel salt

Salt Economics

Sales price: ~$1,800/kg (FLiBe)
Production cost: <$1,000/kg
Gross margin: Strong (>40%)
CapEx to scale to 1 ton/day: ~$5-7M

Contracts & Revenue

$12M contract — 100 tons FLiBe to Commonwealth Fusion Systems (delivery by 2027). CFS spent ~1 year validating the salt before signing.
$120M follow-on contract — with CFS for 2028 delivery.
$200-800M — Additional contracts in negotiation with other nuclear companies.
~$300M total order book across 3 companies (delivery 2026-2027).
Dow Chemical — committed to immediate order post-testing.
Current customers: MIT, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, competing SMR developers, national labs.
New customer (Jan 2026): Additional molten salt firm acquired (likely FLiBe Energy or Terrestrial Energy).
Status: Only US nuclear company besides Westinghouse generating revenue from salt.

Competitive Position (Salt)

Company	Method	Salt Type	Scale	Limitation
SaltGen/ATRC	Electrochemical (no HF)	FLiBe + others	Industrial (scaling to tons/day)	—
Copenhagen Atomics	Electrochemical	FLiNaK only	Limited	Potassium poisons neutronics; 3 orders of magnitude more expensive; no FLiBe
Kairos Power	HF gas bubbling	FLiBe	Large scale	Leaves hydrogen → still corrosive
Materion	HF method	Various	Limited	One client with exclusive rights

4. Market Opportunity

Energy Demand

US electricity consumption: +25% by 2030, +59% by 2040
Data centers: US CapEx from $260B (2025) to $1.7T (2030). Could consume more energy than Japan by 2026, India by 2030.
EVs: 20x more on road by 2040 (92M)
Nuclear must triple globally by 2050 (BofA)
DOE target: 200 GW new nuclear by 2050 (US only)
SMR market: ~$1tn by 2050; total nuclear ecosystem TAM >$10tn

US Grid Crisis

70% of grid at end of life
$5 trillion replacement cost
64% increase in major outages since 2000
Weather-related disruptions up 78% in last decade
Connection queues: 7-9 years
70% of grid equipment predates modern security standards

Key Industry Moments (Last 12 Months)

March 2025: 57 reactors online in China + 28 under construction
September 2025: Microsoft joins World Nuclear Association; $80B AI infrastructure allocation
October 2025: 6.6 GW secured by Meta for 2035; 3x pledge by Amazon, Google & Meta for global nuclear by 2050; $1.6B+ invested including Three Mile Island restart
January 2026: Project Janus + $80B national nuclear partnership; largest corporate purchase in US history; 400 GW target acceleration; 3 providers: Vistra, Oklo, TerraPower

HALEU Bottleneck (Major Tailwind for ATRC)

Over 40,000 kg HALEU needed by 2030 (DOE estimate)
US can only produce 900 kg/year currently
Over half of competitors lack secured HALEU supply
HALEU-based reactor capacity capped at ~4 GWe by 2035 (optimistic DOE scenario)
ATRC uses standard LEU — completely avoids this bottleneck

5. Target Customers

US Domestic

Data centers / Hyperscalers — Behind-the-meter power. Meta, Google, Alphabet all expressed interest pending working prototype. Utilities cannot provide capacity.
Remote municipalities — Areas without easy grid access (e.g., Galena, Alaska: 60¢/kWh).
Mining/drilling operations — Distributed power for remote operations; decarbonization of upstream.

US Department of Defense

4,500-unit verbal commitment pending working prototype (meeting at Pentagon).
Use case: Autonomous/remote bases, monitoring/sensing stations.
~10 MW needed per application; 12 MWe reactor perfect fit.
No NRC license needed — DOE/DoD licensing (like nuclear subs).
Only ATRC qualifies — only autonomous reactor that fits DoD's remote base requirements.
Consultant: Retired 2-star general opening doors and connections.

International

Canada: CNSC has shorter licensing pathway; expressed interest as NRC fallback.
123-agreement countries: Multiple US-friendly nations with nuclear regulatory bodies.
European strategy: Plans for salt factory + reactor factory in Portugal. Entering EU SMR Industrial Alliance. Building pipeline of European heavy energy consumers with priority access (investment-linked).

Big Tech Engagement

Conversations with Alphabet/Google, Meta/Facebook ~3 years ago.
All took position: "Moving on proven tech now; very interested if you demonstrate a working prototype."
Since then, they've restarted Three Mile Island, bought old reactors — confirming demand for cheaper alternatives.

6. Competitive Landscape

HALEU-Dependent Competitors

Company	Technology	Fuel	Refuel Cycle	Key Weakness
ThorCon	MSR	Liquid Salt	4 years	Not pursuing US NRC initially; requires validated simulation software
Kairos Power	FHR (fluoride salt-cooled)	TRISO Pebbles	Online	TRISO scale-up needed; FLiBe corrosion management
Oklo	Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor	Metallic U-Zr	20+ years	Fuel recycling regulatory challenges; was denied by NRC
TerraPower	Sodium-Cooled Fast (Natrium)	Metallic U-Zr	~2 years	Sodium handling/fire risk; high capital cost for FOAK
Radiant	HTGR	TRISO Pebbles	5+ years	TRISO scale-up needed; NRC pre-application stage
X-energy	HTGR	TRISO Pebbles	Online	TRISO scale-up needed; project delays

LEU Competitors (<5% enrichment)

Company	Technology	Fuel	Refuel Cycle	Key Weakness
Aalo Atomics	Sodium-Cooled Fast	UO₂ Ceramic	~5 years	New company (2023); sodium handling expertise needed; targets ~7¢/kWh
NuScale	PWR	UO₂ Ceramic	~2 years	PWR inherits same issues; higher $/MWe
Westinghouse AP300	PWR	UO₂ Ceramic	18-24 months	PWR issues; longer licensing timeline
Copenhagen Atomics	Thorium MSR	Liquid Salt	5 years	Heavy water + molten salt risks; regulatory pathway unclear
Terrestrial Energy	MSR (graphite moderator)	Liquid Salt	7 years	Sensor/monitoring gaps; salt chemistry unknowns
Holtec	PWR	UO₂ Ceramic	18 months	PWR issues; NRC design not yet certified
Last Energy	PWR	UO₂ Standard	6 years	PWR issues; European regulation disadvantage

ATRC Advantages Over All Competitors

Cost: <3¢/kWh vs. 7¢+ for nearest competitor (Aalo)
Autonomous operation: Only reactor designed for zero human intervention
Size: Small enough to test full-scale in DOE dome (no scale-up extrapolation needed)
Salt supply: Only commercial-scale producer of non-corrosive FLiBe
Fuel: Standard LEU — no HALEU bottleneck
Waste: Can extract and sell all fission products
Safety: True passive safety via physics, not engineered systems
Revenue: Already generating salt revenue (unique among nuclear startups)

7. Team

Leadership

Name	Role	Background
Dr. Matthew Memmott	Senior Technical Advisor	PhD Nuclear Engineering (MIT); BYU Nuclear Engineering Professor; former Lead Designer at Westinghouse (AP1000, SMR program); BS Chemical Engineering (BYU)
Nick Baguley	President & Director	Former VP of Data Science at Mastercard; co-founder of Alpha Tech & wrench.ai; BA University of Utah
John Benson	Director of Engineering	Serial entrepreneur — Utah Broadband (built & sold), wood pellet production scale-up; BS Manufacturing Engineering Technology (BYU); multiple nuclear patents
Thor Roundy	Director & Secretary	32 years M&A legal practice; real estate investment attorney; JD UC Berkeley; crypto/blockchain strategy
Staci Wheeler Fullmer	Director of External Affairs	Former White House & Congressional counsel; 15 years energy policy; 5 years at Nuclear Energy Institute; BA BYU, JD Georgetown
Brittney Saenz	Nuclear Engineer	PhD Nuclear Engineering; experience at INL, IAEA, & TerraPower; licensed reactor operator
Ethan Gunnell	Chemical Engineer	CFD computational expert; specialist in element extraction processes
Jason Sanders	IP Counsel	Global patent expert; former Space Shuttle Discovery payload manager; JD Georgetown

Advisory Board

Name	Background
Dan Lipman	MS Energy Technology & International Economics (Johns Hopkins); President, Beginning Energies International; former VP Nuclear Energy Institute; former SVP Westinghouse Electric
Vince Memmott	Chemical Engineering MS (BYU); petroleum refinery operations at Exxon, Maverick, and Flying J
Retired 2-Star General	(name undisclosed) — Consultant for ~3 years; opening doors with Pentagon/DoD

Manufacturing Partner

Peterson Inc / Presync — 9-year partnership with ATRC. Factory operators and fabricators with nuclear component experience (also built Disneyland rides). Will operate the reactor factory. Currently iterating prototype design and laser weld systems.

Team Size

Current: ~15 people
Target: ~30 by end of 2026

8. Roadmap & Milestones

Timeline	Milestone	Budget
2025 Q4	Fabricate reactor prototype (6-month build with Peterson)	$5M
2025 Q4	Scale salt production to 1 ton/day	$5M
Q2 2026	Salt production facility operational	—
2026	$12M CFS salt order delivered	—
2026 Q3	Thermal fueling (depleted uranium installed)	$3M
2027	$120M CFS follow-on salt order delivered	—
2027 Q2	Thermal validation — non-nuclear testing in southern Utah (no license needed). Demonstrates structural integrity, materials, corrosion, heat transport.	$14M
2027 Q3	Nuclear fueling (5% LEU fuel installed)	$16M
Mid-2028	First criticality at Idaho National Lab DOE Dome Facility	$17M
2028-2030	NRC licensing (~2 years per NRC's own estimate) + factory build-out in parallel	—
End of 2030	Manufacturing license + factory producing 1,000 reactors/year (Ogden, Utah)	—

Total reactor development budget: ~$60M
- Reactor cost: $31.1M
- Thermal testing: $5.9M
- Full costs: $37M
- Remaining R&D for criticality: $24M
- SaltGen CF of ~$17.9M (2026-2027) funds remaining R&D costs

Licensing Strategy (Key Advantage)

DOE test license (not NRC) — simpler, ~2 years. Reactor is <50 MW, qualifies for INL Dome Facility.
Full-scale test in dome — ATRC is the only company whose full-size reactor fits. All others must extrapolate from scaled-down tests (adds 10+ years).
DOE dome queue advantage (Jan 2026 update): 3 firms technically ahead in queue, but all HALEU-dependent. DOE confirmed: first ready = first to test. HALEU unavailable until ~2028+ → ATRC likely tests first. Alternative test sites also available as fallback.
Take operational data directly to NRC — much stronger than simulation-only dockets. NRC informally estimated 1-2 year licensing with this data.
Manufacturing license pursued in parallel — licenses the factory process, not just the reactor design. Pre-licensed reactors ship with only a site license needed (cheaper, faster).
NRC new legislation (Jan 2026 update): New rules being pushed — only passively safe reactors (no active safety systems/sensors) qualify for manufacturing license with universal deployment (no individual site licensing). Currently only AlphaTech meets these criteria. Being actively lobbied. Huge regulatory moat if passed.

Fallback Paths

DoD: No NRC license needed (like nuclear subs). Working prototype → 4,500 unit order.
International: Canada (CNSC shorter pathway), 123-agreement countries.
NRC: Primary commercial path.

9. Financials & Projections

SaltGen Cash Flows (Projected)

Year	SaltGen FCFF	Reactor R&D	Fund Raise
2025	—	—	$30M
2026	$29M	-$10M	—
2027	$65M	-$14M	—
2028	$75M	-$15M	—
2029	—	—	—
2030	—	—	—
2031	$93M	—	—

Valuation Model

2030E EBITDA (SaltGen): $112.5M
Weighted EV/EBITDA multiple: 16.2x
Specialty Chemicals (65%): 10.7x
High-Margin Manufacturing (20%): 30.9x
Nuclear Services (10%): 21.3x
Industrial Processing (5%): 19.5x
Implied Enterprise Value: ~$1.82B (weighted average)
Implied Equity Value: ~$1.99B
With 27% private equity discount: ~$1.46B
Valuation range: $1.37B – $2.11B
At $450M pre-money → Implied 2030 return multiple: ~4.4x

SaltGen Standalone Valuation

Implied valuation $400M+ (per Oak Ridge Partners)
Strong positive cash flow de-risks the reactor investment

10. Investment Terms

Current Raise

Total raise target: $60M
Instrument: SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) — heavily modified from Y Combinator standard
Lead investor: 3 Comma Capital (Patrick Hable, partner)
Co-investment vehicle: Oak Ridge Partners, Sàrl (Portugal-based)
Pedro Sampaio Nunes (Consultant)
Patrick Hable (LP) — patrick.hable@oakridge-partners.com, +351 914 425 150
Samuel Cavaco (GP) — scavaco@oakridge-partners.com, +351 967 808 883

SAFE Structure

Tranches:
1. $2M — due by Oct 25, 2025 — Cap: $412M
2. $3M — due by Nov 20, 2025 — Cap: $455M
3. $5M — due by Dec 30, 2025 — Cap: $460M
4. $10M — due by Mar 30, 2026 — Cap: $470M
5. $10M — due by Jun 30, 2026 — Cap: $480M
Pre-Money Valuation Target: ~$450M
No discount rate (unusual — standard SAFEs include 20%)
Maturity: 10 years from signing (Sep 25, 2025)
Conversion: At equity financing or investor election (after full payment)
Stock type: Class "C" Common Stock (Safe Common Stock) — no voting rights
CFIUS: Filing required. If US government blocks, SAFE is voidable and funds returned.

Legal Review Concerns (from counsel)

"Tranche Trap" — If investor defaults on any tranche, ALL prior investment is retroactively repriced to $480M cap (highest). Removes ability to cut losses.
"Phantom Dilution" — Company Capitalization definition excludes unissued option pool. Means investor will be diluted by option pool creation after conversion.
No Discount Rate — No reward for early/higher-risk investment vs. new investors at equity financing.
10-Year Zombie — If no equity event in 10 years, converts to unsecured promissory note at 5% interest (below market for distressed debt).
Non-standard structure — Tranche-based SAFEs are unusual; each tranche should ideally stand alone.

Recommended Fixes (from counsel)

Decouple tranches — each should be its own SAFE with fixed cap
Add 20% discount rate
Strike investor default penalty
Include option pool in Company Capitalization
Shorten maturity to 3-5 years

11. IP & Protection

Patents

Patents on reactor design
Patents on salt purification components
Ongoing IP assignment agreement with BYU (funded research)

Trade Secrets

Most valuable know-how intentionally kept as trade secrets (not patented)
Air-gapped data room — cannot be accessed externally
Sealed data room — due diligence conducted on-site in Utah only

Rationale

Patents viewed as "invitation for China to copy" (learned at Westinghouse)
Trade secrets provide stronger protection for core processes

12. DOE & Government Engagement

DOE grants received: $800K+ (including GAIN grants, SBIR grants)
NOT on DOE SMR development list — intentional:
Would require giving equity to government-adjacent entity
List obligates working reactor by July 2026 (unrealistic for anyone)
Requires sharing certain technologies / strings attached
Limits freedom to pursue international and DoD contracts
NRC engagement: Already in meetings; NRC gave 2-year licensing estimate
State of Utah: Changed rules to allow nuclear power consideration; $18M state investment in testing facility in central Utah
Pentagon meetings: Facilitated by retired 2-star general consultant

13. Blockchain / Crypto Strategy

Planning energy-backed stablecoin — each reactor coming online mints stablecoins commensurate with production capacity
Stablecoins used to pay for electricity via power purchase agreements
Purpose: Self-finance deployment in developing countries (e.g., Africa) without traditional financing complexity
Led by Thor Roundy
Details still being developed

14. European Strategy

Salt factory in Portugal (planned)
Reactor factory in Portugal (planned)
EU SMR Industrial Alliance — joining
European pipeline: Heavy energy consumers investing in fund get priority reactor access (same priority as US Army)
Government engagement: Working with Portuguese government on nuclear future
Public organizations: Building base for nuclear acceptance

15. Risk Factors

Execution risk — Prototype to 1,000 reactors/year by 2030 is extremely ambitious
Regulatory risk — NRC historically unpredictable (though multiple fallback paths)
SAFE structure — Investor-unfavorable terms (see Section 10)
Pre-revenue (reactor) — All reactor revenue is 5+ years out
CFIUS risk — Required review could void the investment
Competition — Well-funded competitors (TerraPower backed by Bill Gates, Kairos with NRC construction permit)
Public perception — Nuclear still faces social acceptance challenges
Key person risk — Matt Memmott is the technical linchpin
Scale-up risk — Lab-proven salt purification → industrial scale is non-trivial
Geopolitical — Uranium supply chain, Russia sanctions, China competition

16. Open Questions / To Investigate

[ ] Exact status of CFIUS filing
[ ] Detailed cap table / existing shareholders
[ ] Specific DOE dome facility timeline/booking
[ ] CFS contract terms (exclusivity? volume commitments?)
[ ] Peterson Inc factory location details (Ogden, UT)
[ ] Status of Tranche 1-3 payments (were they made on time?)
[ ] Identity of the retired 2-star general advisor
[ ] Dow order specifics
[ ] Detailed breakdown of the ~$300M order book (which 3 companies?)

17. News & Updates Log

Date	Update
2025-09-25	SAFE agreement effective date
2025-10-25	Tranche 1 ($2M) due
2025-11-20	Tranche 2 ($3M) due
2025-12-30	Tranche 3 ($5M) due
2026-01-30	Research file created; comprehensive analysis completed
2026-01-30	Call update (via Ben): New salt customer acquired — likely FLiBe Energy or Terrestrial Energy
2026-01-30	Call update: Realistic timeline: 8-9 months for parts delivery + 6 months test/assembly → testing could begin ~May 2027
2026-01-30	Call update: DOE dome testing queue — 3 firms technically ahead, but ALL are HALEU-dependent. DOE said "if you're ready first, you test first." HALEU unavailable until ~2028+ → highly likely ATRC tests before anyone else
2026-01-30	Call update: Alternative DOE test sites exist (more cumbersome but viable fallback)
2026-01-30	Call update: Kairos built test reactor in 11 months but took 3 years and ~$1.1B total. ATRC's production reactor IS the test reactor — no separate prototype needed
2026-01-30	Call update: NRC pushing new legislation — only passively safe reactors (not sensor/active-system dependent) can qualify for manufacturing license + deploy anywhere without individual site licensing. Currently only AlphaTech's reactor meets these criteria. Others would need to adapt. Being lobbied actively.

Sources: ATRC Pitchdeck (Jun 2025), SaltGen Pitchdeck (Apr 2025), Oak Ridge Partners Co-Investment Deck, 3 Comma Co-Investment Opportunity, SAFE Agreement, SAFE Legal Review, Q&A with Investors Transcript, Alpha Valuation Model, BofA Nuclear Power Primer (Sep 2025)

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