Apollo Atomics is taking a different route in the nuclear energy race: instead of building an entirely new reactor from scratch, the startup is reengineering a component that often gets little attention but plays a central role in power generation.
The company says its focus is the steam generator, the system that turns reactor heat into steam to drive a turbine. By making this part far smaller and more efficient, Apollo believes it can shrink the overall footprint of a nuclear plant and simplify manufacturing.
According to the founders, the redesigned generator can be mass-produced and is roughly the size of a person, compared with conventional units that are typically enormous and custom-built. Apollo says this approach could make its reactor about 40 times smaller than a traditional design using a standard steam generator.
The startup recently raised $26 million in seed funding, including debt, to support a demonstration reactor. Its design draws on research from MIT, where Apollo has already built a 40-kilowatt prototype to validate the concept.
Halimi, the company's CEO, says the long-term goal is to deliver electricity at around 3 cents per kilowatt hour and to compete directly with natural gas on cost. Apollo also expects factory assembly to reduce construction time, with a 300-megawatt plant potentially completed in under two years.
The company plans to offer reactor sizes from 10 megawatts-electric up to 300 megawatts, aiming to scale the technology for different energy needs. If the model proves successful, it could help reshape how compact nuclear systems are designed and built in the years ahead.
