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News
newcleo Inaugurates Advanced
Nuclear Fuel Engineering and Testing Center in France, Furthering the Industrial Deployment of its MOX Fuel Program.
The €10 million
FASTER center provides a dedicated non-nuclear environment to develop, test and qualify technologies, equipment and processes for future
MOX fuel manufacturing operations.
Seven
test facilities are operating at the site, covering key stages of the fuel manufacturing process, from powder dosing and pellet pressing
to fuel pin assembly and quality inspection.
By
enabling the validation and optimization of manufacturing processes ahead of industrial deployment, FASTER represents a key milestone
in de-risking newcleo’s advanced MOX fuel program and supports the development of the Company’s planned fuel manufacturing
facilities.
Paris, France,
14 October 2026 – newcleo plc (“newcleo” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NWCL), a pioneer in advanced
modular reactor (“AMR”) technology and nuclear fuel manufacturing, today inaugurated FASTER (Fuel process Assembly Storage
Training and Enhanced Reality), its advanced nuclear fuel engineering, testing and training center located in Chusclan, in the Occitanie
region of southern France.
Representing an
investment of around €10 million, FASTER provides advanced engineering, prototype testing and immersive training capabilities to
newcleo’s fuel team, which comprises around 100 engineers and highly qualified specialists.
Similar to the Lead-cooled
Fast Reactor Development and Qualification program developed by newcleo at the ENEA Brasimone Research Center, the facilities
installed at FASTER will support the de-risking and continuous improvement of newcleo’s MOX fuel manufacturing technology.
Stefano Buono,
Founder and CEO of newcleo, said: “FASTER is an important milestone in the industrial execution of our fuel strategy.
By providing a dedicated environment to develop, test and qualify technologies before their deployment in licensed facilities, FASTER
significantly de-risks our future MOX manufacturing program and accelerates our path towards industrialization in France and the United
States. The center is a testament to our development model: highly skilled teams, real equipment and industrial partners transforming
research and engineering into the facilities we intend to build. By developing our fuel program from within the established French nuclear
industry, we are building capabilities to enable a closed nuclear fuel cycle and deploy the next generation of nuclear energy globally.”
Located near the
Marcoule nuclear site, FASTER offers a dedicated, non-nuclear environment in which to develop, test and qualify technologies and manufacturing
processes ahead of their future deployment in MOX fuel facilities.
The center is designed
around a practical “test and learn” approach, bringing engineering and physical testing closer together. Concepts developed
by newcleo’s teams are translated into prototypes and test mock-ups at FASTER, tested under representative conditions and
progressively refined, helping accelerate their path towards industrial deployment.
Seven test facilities
are already operational at FASTER, with further installations under development. These facilities address different stages and challenges
of MOX fuel manufacturing, including powder dosing optimization, glovebox ergonomics, pellet handling, fuel pin assembly and decontamination,
pellet inspection and helium filling.
Located in the heart
of one of France’s key nuclear supply-chain regions, FASTER draws on expertise from across the country’s industrial and nuclear
sectors. It also benefits from the specialist capabilities of newcleo’s subsidiary S.R.S. Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo
and French nuclear-grade scales and precision weighting equipment manufacturer Bonifait Pesage, whose acquisition by newcleo is
expected to close in Q4 2026.
newcleo aims
to fabricate MOX nuclear fuel, a proven nuclear fuel manufactured from a mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides that has been used in
commercial reactors for decades, to power its Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs) and other potential third party off-takers. When used
in fast reactors, like newcleo’s LFRs, MOX enables the multi-recycling of nuclear fuel in what is known as a “closed
fuel cycle”. This circular approach to nuclear fuel can extract more energy from the same amount of natural uranium compared to
traditional once-through fuel cycles in thermal reactors, while at the same time significantly reducing the volume and radioactivity
of nuclear waste.
newcleo has
proposed the deployment of an advanced MOX fuel fabrication facility in France in the Aube department, near Nogent-sur-Seine, to manufacture
fuel for its future European reactors. The project reached an important regulatory milestone in July 2026, when the French Nuclear Safety
and Radiation Protection Authority (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire et de radioprotection – “ASNR”)
issued an overall satisfactory evaluation for the proposed safety options, offering practical feedback to continue developing the facility’s
safety features ahead of a planned construction license application in France.
As newcleo
furthers its pre-licensing engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Company plans to adopt the ASNR feedback and recommendations
to also strengthen and streamline its licensing strategy for the U.S. market.
About newcleo
newcleo
is an innovative nuclear technology company developing advanced modular reactors and nuclear fuel designed to deliver clean, safe and
sustainable energy at competitive costs. newcleo's technology combines lead-cooled fast reactors with fuel manufactured from recycled
nuclear materials, with the aim of providing abundant and reliable electricity and heat to industrial users while enabling the closure
of the nuclear fuel cycle. newcleo brings together more than 900 highly skilled employees across Europe and the United States,
spanning reactor and fuel design, engineering, and manufacturing. Through a vertically integrated supply chain and a growing network
of strategic partnerships, newcleo is working to turn proven scientific and engineering solutions into deployable nuclear energy
assets. For more information visit. For more information visit www.newcleo.com
For
media enquiries
newcleo
press office
media@newcleo.com
European
media enquiries
newcleo@brunswickgroup.com
For investors
newcleo@icrinc.com
Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release
contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. All statements contained in this
press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the completed business combination
between NewHold Investment Corp III and newcleo; the anticipated benefits of the transaction; expected trading of the combined company’s
securities on Nasdaq; the completion of investments from certain institutional investors; the expected amount of gross proceeds from
any investments or other financing arrangements; the anticipated use of proceeds from such investments or financing arrangements; newcleo's
development and commercialization of its lead-cooled fast reactor technology, mixed-oxide fuel capabilities and related products and
services; the expected timing, cost, performance and benefits of newcleo's demonstration projects, fuel facilities, reactor deployments
and licensing activities; newcleo's ability to execute its business strategy, develop its technology, obtain required regulatory approvals,
permits and licenses, enter into commercial arrangements, achieve its market opportunity and positioning and support the growth of advanced
nuclear energy; newcleo's expectations regarding strategic partnerships, customer demand, project pipeline, revenue streams, capital
expenditures and financing needs; and other statements regarding management's intentions, beliefs, or expectations with respect to newcleo's
future performance, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of words such as "anticipate,"
"believe," "continue," "could," "develop," "estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek,"
"should," "target," "will," "would," and similar expressions, but the absence of these words
does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on newcleo's current expectations and
assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described
in other documents filed from time to time by newcleo with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional risks and uncertainties
not currently known or that are currently deemed immaterial may also cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and newcleo
does not assume any obligation or intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, each of which is made only as of the date
of this press release.