Natura Resources received a shipment of FLiBE salt from the U.S. Department of Energy on Sept. 18, sent through Oak Ridge National Laboratory via Idaho National Laboratory. The Abilene, Texas company will use the coolant in its MSR-1 demonstration reactor, under construction at Abilene Christian University. A molten salt reactor cools its core with liquid salt rather than water, which lets it operate at low pressure.

The salt is enriched to 99.99% lithium-7, a purity that limits how much tritium forms in the coolant during reactor operation. Natura called the delivery a handoff between generations of American nuclear work, tying the project to the original Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE). That reactor ran at Oak Ridge from 1965 to 1969 and logged more than 13,000 hours of operation, testing:

  • Passive safety
  • High-temperature performance
  • Fuel flexibility

It also used FLiBE salt as its own coolant, and Natura says the earlier program's results shaped the MSR-1's design.

CEO ties the delivery to the MSRE legacy

Natura CEO Jordan Robison said, "Receiving this salt from the DOE is a handoff between generations of American innovation." Natura won the salt through a competitive DOE solicitation that Idaho National Laboratory opened in August 2025.

The company said the shipment secures one of the most specialized inputs an MSR needs to run, cutting supply-chain risk and clearing a path for the MSR-1 to start up. Natura plans to use the reactor to generate operating data for its future commercial units.

A private company with public and private backing

Natura holds the first construction permit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued for a liquid-fueled reactor. The privately held company has raised more than $120 million in private funding, plus a $120 million commitment from the State of Texas.

Its reactor design runs on liquid fuel at low pressure. Natura says the design is meant to power industrial sites and communities. The company also says it can produce clean water and medical isotopes alongside electricity.