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Lightbridge Receives Notice of Allowance for a Pivotal Manufacturing Method Patent in the United States for its Metallic Fuel Rods
RESTON, Va., Aug. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightbridge Corporation (Nasdaq: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, announced that it received
About this update from Lightbridge Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"RESTON, Va., Aug. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightbridge Corporation (Nasdaq: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, announced that it received a Notice of Allowance for a crucial divisional patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to a method of manufacturing Lighbridge’s multi-lobe helically twisted metallic fuel rods via the casting route, which is the Company’s preferred method of forming a fuel core billet prior to co-extrusing an entire billet assembly (i.e., fuel core billet together with a central displacer wire and a zirconium alloy cladding canister) into a complete fuel rod. Scott Holcombe, Vice President of Engineering at Lightbridge, stated, “This new U.S. patent coincides with our ongoing work at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where we have recently performed initial castings using depleted uranium (U) and zirconium (Zr) to produce U-Zr fuel alloy ingots, which are currently undergoing characterization. Our next steps are to scale up the ingot size to form fuel core billets suitable for extrusion, and then to conduct initial extrusions.” Seth Grae, President & Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge, commented, “This is an important expansion of Lightbridge’s intellectual property around the manufacturing process for our patented metallic fuel rods. This accomplishment underscores our dedication to technological leadership in advanced nuclear technologies, while strengthening our intellectual property protection in the United States, which is essential to our efforts in commercializing Lightbridge Fuel™.” About Lightbridge CorporationLightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR) is focused on developing advanced nuclear fuel technology essential for delivering abundant, zero-emission, clean energy and providing energy security to the world. The Company is developing Lightbridge Fuel™, a proprietary next-generation nuclear fuel technology for existing light water reactors and pressurized heavy water reactors, significantly enhancing reactor safety, economics, and proliferation resistance. The Company is also developing Lightbridge Fuel for new Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to bring the same benefits plus load-following with renewables on a zero-carbon electric grid. Lightbridge has secured a long-term strategic partnership with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the United States' lead...