modular-reactors
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Zap Energy wants a star. First, it needs the plumbing.
The Washington company made its name squeezing plasma without giant magnetic coils. Now it is adding fission to the plan, betting that the machinery around the reaction can bring nuclear power closer to customers.
Solidec
Solidec is a Houston-based climate-tech company spun out of Rice University that builds modular electrolyzers to make essential chemicals - starting with ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide - on-site from just air, water, and electricity. Its porous solid-electrolyte reactor skips the centralized plants, hazardous trucking, and fossil-fuel feedstocks of conventional chemical production, cutting emissions by as much as 90%. Founded in 2023 by Ryan DuChanois, Yang Xia, and Rice professor Haotian Wang, the company raised an oversubscribed $2M pre-seed round and has been backed by Chevron Technology Ventures' Catalyst Program, the Activate Fellowship, and a NASA SBIR award.