Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power “Value Chain” Technology Structure
Nuclear Power Definitions
Extraction of uranium ore from the ground and its initial processing into uranium concentrate (yellowcake). Covers conventional open-pit and underground mining, in-situ leaching, heap leaching, hydrometallurgical recovery, bioleaching, and purification. Also includes uranium recovery from unconventional sources such as seawater and mine effluents, and isotopic analysis for resource evaluation and material accountancy.
Processing of uranium concentrate into reactor-ready fuel. Covers chemical conversion between uranium compound forms (UF₆, UO₂, oxides, fluorides), isotopic enrichment, and the full fuel fabrication chain: powder processing, pellet sintering, cladding tube production, fuel rod assembly, spacer grid manufacture, end-fitting design, and quality control. Includes advanced fuel forms such as TRISO coated particles, MOX, accident-tolerant cladding, and burnable absorber integration.
Analytical and computational work performed during the design and licensing phases of a reactor project. Covers neutronics modelling, thermal-hydraulic simulation, multi-physics fuel performance codes, probabilistic risk assessment, safety analysis, and materials qualification testing. Includes experimental test rigs and platforms used to generate the data that underpin the engineering basis for reactor design and regulatory approval.
Physical construction of reactor buildings, containment structures, and the nuclear island. Covers reinforced and prestressed concrete containment vessels, steel-concrete composite liners, modular and prefabricated construction methods, seismic isolation systems, pressure vessel fabrication and joining, and on-site installation of large heavy components. Also includes structural and radiation shielding design, cable and penetration systems, and plant layout and site engineering.
Mechanical equipment forming the reactor coolant pressure boundary and the steam cycle. Covers reactor coolant pumps, valves and pressure-control devices, steam generators, heat exchangers, primary circuit piping, seals and penetrations, control rod drive mechanisms, ventilation and filtration systems, and associated pressure-boundary fabrication. These are the core mechanical systems that circulate coolant, transfer heat, and control reactivity during normal plant operation.
Digital and analogue systems that monitor plant state, execute control actions, and provide safety protection. Covers distributed control systems, reactor protection and trip logic, in-core and ex-core monitoring hardware, operator interfaces, alarm management, digital I&C qualification and testing, radiation monitoring, and integrated plant-level digital platforms. Includes simulation tools for control logic verification, operator training, and severe-accident analysis.
Tools, techniques, and robotic systems for assessing the structural and material integrity of reactor components throughout their operating life without removing them from service. Covers ultrasonic, eddy-current, radiographic, visual, and acoustic emission inspection; remote and underwater robotic deployment platforms; leak detection; dimensional metrology; and condition monitoring and diagnostic analytics for the primary circuit, containment, steam generators, and fuel assemblies.
Engineering activities and specialised tooling that sustain and restore reactor plant components during scheduled outages and unplanned interventions. Covers in-situ welding, grinding, and surface treatment for crack mitigation, chemical and electrochemical decontamination, underwater and remote repair tooling, component replacement and refurbishment, coolant chemistry management, outage planning, and asset lifecycle management platforms.
Engineered systems whose primary purpose is to prevent or mitigate the consequences of abnormal reactor events. Covers emergency core cooling and passive injection systems, containment overpressure management, hydrogen control and catalytic recombination, severe accident management including core melt retention, passive decay heat removal, and emergency electrical power supply. These systems are designed to function reliably without operator action or external power.
Operation of nuclear reactors to produce electricity and deliver it to the grid. Covers core neutronics and thermal-hydraulic control, steam cycle management, turbine and generator integration, load-following and frequency regulation, fuel cycle optimisation, coolant chemistry management, and plant-level performance monitoring. Includes computational tools for reactor physics simulation, real-time power distribution estimation, and cogeneration configurations delivering both electricity and process or district heat.
Safe handling of nuclear fuel after discharge from the reactor, and treatment of the resulting radioactive materials. Covers wet and dry interim storage, passive and active decay heat removal, fuel pool monitoring, chemical reprocessing to recover uranium and plutonium, partitioning of minor actinides, immobilisation of high-level waste into glass or ceramic forms, and engineered solutions for long-term storage or geological repository emplacement. Also covers management of radioactive off-gases, liquid effluents, and contaminated components across the full back-end fuel cycle.
Safe removal from service and dismantlement of nuclear reactors and associated facilities at end of life. Covers radiological characterisation and inventory assessment, structural segmentation and cutting of activated components, underwater and remote handling of irradiated material, contamination control, waste volume reduction, packaging and transport of radioactive material, and site remediation. Includes digital planning tools, dose assessment, waste tracking, and regulatory compliance activities required to achieve licence termination and site release.
Equipment, technology, and services supplied to the nuclear industry that cut across multiple stages of the value chain. Includes radiation monitoring and detection systems, neutron flux instrumentation, fuel handling machinery, shielding materials, safety and protection systems, coolant chemistry control equipment, sealing and penetration technology, digital control and diagnostic platforms, risk and reliability analysis tools, and specialised manufacturing and testing services. These products and services are supplied to operators, constructors, and regulators across the full nuclear lifecycle.
Non-conventional reactor designs at various stages of development beyond standard light-water reactor technology. Covers liquid-metal cooled fast reactors (sodium, lead, lead-bismuth), high-temperature gas-cooled and pebble-bed reactors, molten salt reactors, small modular reactors, microreactors, fast breeder reactors, accelerator-driven subcritical systems, and marine and floating nuclear platforms. These concepts typically pursue improved fuel utilisation, enhanced passive safety, waste reduction, or suitability for niche deployment environments.
Technologies targeting the controlled release of energy by fusing light atomic nuclei, primarily deuterium and tritium. Covers magnetic confinement approaches (tokamaks, stellarators, FRCs), inertial confinement using lasers or particle beams, high-field superconducting coil systems, plasma heating technologies, plasma-facing and divertor components, tritium breeding blankets, vacuum vessel engineering, real-time plasma control, and power conversion systems. Encompasses both experimental devices and engineering development towards commercial fusion power plants.
Use of nuclear reactions or radioactive decay as the primary energy source for specialised non-grid applications. Covers radioisotope thermoelectric generators, betavoltaic and thermophotovoltaic microbatteries, compact radioisotope heat sources, accelerator-driven neutron sources, and neutron generators for medical isotope production, materials testing, borehole logging, and neutron radiography. Typically targets applications requiring long-lived, maintenance-free, or remote power where conventional energy sources are impractical, including space exploration and remote industrial installations.
Use of nuclear reactor heat and electricity as the primary energy input for producing hydrogen and other industrial commodities at scale. Covers high-temperature electrolysis, thermochemical water-splitting cycles, nuclear-driven steam reforming, syngas production, and reactor-heat integration with industrial processes such as desalination, ammonia synthesis, and district heating. Positions nuclear energy as a clean heat source for decarbonising energy-intensive industries beyond electricity generation.
Approaches claiming to produce nuclear energy or transmutation under conditions far below those established in mainstream fission or fusion science. Includes low-energy nuclear reaction devices, condensed-matter fusion in metal lattices such as palladium-deuterium systems, cavitation-driven fusion, and related concepts. These approaches lack robust peer-reviewed experimental validation and are not considered scientifically mainstream. They are categorised separately to clearly distinguish them from established nuclear technologies.
Patents 2025 by Tech
Patent Development by Tech
Company Ranking
Company Structure
Company patents in value chain
(click on column header to sort by this column, mouseover column header reveals full technology name)