Terrestrial Energy NASDAQ: IMSR said it advanced engineering, regulatory, supply chain and commercial milestones in the first quarter of 2026, as management emphasized rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure, manufacturing reshoring and broader electrification as key drivers for its IMSR nuclear plant strategy.
Chief Executive Officer Simon Irish told investors that the company is executing against a three-pillar framework: IMSR engineering and regulatory development, supply chain development and the commercial pipeline for IMSR plants. He said the company remains focused on “disciplined execution against clear milestones” and is looking beyond a first deployment toward a fleet of IMSR plants operating in the 2030s.
Management Highlights IMSR Differentiation
Irish said the IMSR plant is designed to be one-sixth the size of a conventional nuclear plant and uses steam turbines that operate at nearly 50% greater efficiency than those driven by a light-water reactor. He also pointed to the system’s low-pressure nuclear operations and inherent safety characteristics as factors that he said improve affordability, financeability and social license for deployment.
A major focus of the call was fuel strategy. Irish said the IMSR plant uses standard nuclear fuel with uranium enriched to less than 5% U-235, rather than high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, which is used by some other advanced reactor designs.
Irish said the company made that decision more than a decade ago, and argued that it removes “considerable challenges, costs, and uncertainty” associated with commercial-scale HALEU supply. He also said the approach reduces regulatory complexity and cost for both first plant deployment and future fleet deployment.
Regulatory Milestones Advance
During the quarter, Terrestrial Energy completed an other transaction authority contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to advance Project TETRA, its test reactor assembly, and Project TEFLA, its fuel line assembly. Irish said the projects support engineering and regulatory programs for commercial IMSR plant operations, as well as infrastructure development for IMSR fuel supply.
The company also continued graphite irradiation testing and supply activities at NRG Petten, which Irish described as one of the world’s most powerful test reactors. He said that work is essential for reactor materials qualification, supply selection and licensing readiness.
After the quarter ended, Terrestrial Energy completed final submissions to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission supporting its postulated initiating events methodology, or PIE Topical Report. Irish said the NRC subsequently approved the report and issued a Safety Evaluation Report.
Irish said the Safety Evaluation Report establishes an important methodology for IMSR safety analysis and can be referenced in future licensing applications without re-evaluation. He said topical reports can reduce the scope of later regulatory reviews, improve predictability by resolving safety analyses early and support repeated use of agreed safety frameworks for multiple IMSR plants.
The approval follows a 2025 NRC Safety Evaluation Report for the IMSR’s Principal Design Criteria. Irish said the two approved analyses establish foundational elements of the IMSR plant’s licensing basis.
Riot Platforms MOU Adds Data Center Channel
On the commercial side, Terrestrial Energy said it executed a memorandum of understanding with Riot Platforms after quarter-end. Irish said the agreement creates “the opportunity for a best-in-class pairing of data center and nuclear plant.”
The agreement contemplates co-locating IMSR plants with Riot-developed data centers serving artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications. Irish said it covers multiple project opportunities across the United States and includes the use of natural gas as a bridge fuel to accelerate commercial power supply and enhance resilience during full plant operations.
Irish said the relationship establishes a hyperscale data center commercial channel for IMSR plants. He said the company’s commercial pipeline consists of approximately 10 IMSR plant projects, representing 7.8 gigawatts of indicative power capacity with the Riot relationship included.
Balance Sheet Remains Debt-Free
In the financial review, the company said it ended the quarter with CAD 289.9 million in total cash and cash investments, compared with CAD 297.8 million at the end of 2025. Cash burn for the quarter was CAD 7.9 million, up CAD 1.8 million from the prior quarter after consideration of one-time transaction costs associated with the 2025 merger.
The company said two items drove most of the increase: a $600,000 payment for 2025 discretionary bonuses and a $1 million paydown of accounts payable for vendors offering extended credit terms. The remaining $200,000 increase was attributed to higher sequential payments for research and development costs.
Management said it expects cash burn to increase throughout 2026 as Terrestrial Energy scales its organization and resources, material testing and qualification, supplier selection activities and project-related work.
Research and development expenses rose $1 million sequentially, driven by fuel development and graphite testing programs. General and administrative expenses increased CAD 4.6 million sequentially, primarily reflecting headcount and stock-based compensation as the company builds out its public company team. The company also noted that the fourth quarter of 2025 included a credit of about CAD 2.7 million from legal and accounting expenses capitalized in connection with merger accounting.
Terrestrial Energy said its issued and outstanding shares rose by approximately 100,000 shares during the quarter due to stock option exercises, leaving share count effectively unchanged from year-end 2025. The company said it has no debt, limited liabilities and a balance sheet made up largely of cash and short-term investments.
Analysts Press on Fuel, Licensing and Pipeline
During the question-and-answer session, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Soderberg asked about the TEFLA pilot plant and the fuel supply chain. Irish said Project TEFLA is intended to develop the final steps needed to produce IMSR fuel salt, including processes to create the required chemical and physical form for licensed reactor feed.
Asked about the next regulatory submissions following the PIE Topical Report approval, Irish distinguished between construction permits and operating licenses. He said topical reports are important because they discharge elements of safety analysis that ultimately support an operating license, which he described as “the end game” because it allows commercial operation of a nuclear plant.
Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas asked whether Terrestrial Energy has explored LEU+ fuel. Irish said the company would examine it if it becomes broadly available, but described the potential commercial benefit as “quite marginal.” He also said the IMSR design could accommodate a wide range of fuel types, including spent nuclear fuel, plutonium and thorium, but that the company’s current commercial focus remains on standard-assay LEU to prioritize affordability, capital efficiency and power cost.
Soderberg also asked whether the DOE OTA agreements could help with capital expenditures for TETRA and TEFLA. Irish said the benefit would be indirect, noting that capital “likes regulatory clarity” and that the DOE agreement provides clarity needed for those projects.
Asked whether Terrestrial Energy remains on track to disclose one to three additional projects this year, Irish said the company was reiterating the guidance it issued in March and identified the Riot announcement as part of that progress.
About Terrestrial Energy NASDAQ: IMSR
Terrestrial Energy Inc produces carbon free nuclear energy in North Carolina and internationally. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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