MSR Corrosion-Resistant Alloys Patent Landscape 2026
TerraPower LLC holds a commanding lead in this focused, high-concentration field, accounting for the largest share of the top hundred filers’ combined activity, with Europe (EPO) as the primary filing jurisdiction. The field is in a Growth stage on a multi-year basis, though annual volume has eased from its 2018 peak and the most recent years remain understated by publication lag.
TerraPower dominates a concentrated, specialist field
TerraPower LLC leads the applicant ranking by a substantial margin, followed by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Terrestrial Energy Inc. The top five filers together account for 56% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent records, signalling a highly concentrated competitive structure.
The tier gap between the leader and challengers is pronounced: TerraPower’s 29 patent records nearly double the second-ranked applicant’s 14. A second cluster of mid-tier filers — Saltfoss Energy, Utah Green Energy Technologies, Curio Solutions, and Alpha Tech Research — each hold between seven and nine records, forming a meaningful but clearly subordinate challenger tier.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TerraPower LLC | 29 | |
| 2 | Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 14 | |
| 3 | Terrestrial Energy Inc. | 11 | |
| 4 | Saltfoss Energy ApS | 9 | |
| 5 | Utah Green Energy Technologies LLC | 9 | |
| 6 | Curio Solutions LLC | 8 | |
| 7 | Alpha Tech Research Corp. | 7 | |
| 8 | Transatomic Power Corp. | 6 | |
| 9 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation | 6 | |
| 10 | Copenhagen Atomics A/S | 5 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Abilene Christian University | 3 | |
| 12 | NINGBO INST OF MATERIALS TECH & ENG CHINESE ACAD O… | 2 | |
| 13 | KOREA ADVANCED INST OF SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 14 | Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 15 | Elysium Industries Ltd. | 2 | |
| 16 | Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 | |
| 17 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 1 | |
| 18 | Shanghai Jisheng Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 19 | William M. Kerlin | 1 | |
| 20 | Robert Daniel Woolley | 1 |
The leaders’ positions reflect divergent strategies: TerraPower and most Western developers focus on reactor system architecture (G21C), while the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics anchors its portfolio in alloy composition and non-ferrous metal treatment — the closest any major filer comes to pure materials science IP in this space.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are likely understated due to patent publication lag and should not be interpreted as a slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth persists despite a post-2018 moderation in annual volume
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a field that expanded rapidly through 2018, moderated, then showed renewed activity in 2024 — while remaining overwhelmingly anchored in nuclear reactor system patents rather than alloy materials science.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked in 2018 at 27 patent records, then fell sharply through 2019–2022 before a notable rebound to 18 in 2024. The three-year recent window sits 44% above the prior three-year window, confirming net growth. The apparent drop in 2025 and zero count in 2026 are artifacts of publication lag, not a genuine decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G21C (Nuclear reactors) dominates the IPC mix with 133 records, dwarfing every other branch. C22C (Alloys) is the second-largest branch at 15 records and G21F (Radiation protection and shielding) third at 10 — both well under 10% of G21C’s volume. This concentration confirms that most filers are claiming reactor-level systems rather than alloy formulations per se.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Heat removal system for a molten salt reactor system
A heat removal system for use in molten salt reactor (MSR) system and configured to passively transfer of heat away from a reactor core to prevent elevated temperatures within the reactor core, thereby reducing the risk of catastrophic failure of the reactor. (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat pipe molten salt fast reactor with stagnant l… | 77 |
| 2 | Fission reaction control in a molten salt reactor | 66 |
| 3 | Molten Salt Reactor | 62 |
| 4 | Fission reaction control in a molten salt reactor | 48 |
| 5 | Nuclear fuel salts | 46 |
| 6 | Fission reaction control in a molten salt reactor | 39 |
| 7 | Molten salt reactor | 28 |
| 8 | 一种耐熔盐腐蚀镍钼铬合金无缝管的制备方法 | 23 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment
Four structural features — lifecycle stage, filer concentration, cross-border collaboration, and jurisdiction spread — shape where defensible IP positions remain open and where they are already foreclosed.
Growth stage, eased from 2018 peak
The field is classified in a Growth lifecycle stage: recent three-year filing volume is 44% above the prior three-year window. However, annual volume has eased from the 2018 peak of 27 patent records, and the most recent filing years are further understated by publication lag. New entrants can still establish positions, but the window to define foundational claims in core reactor architecture is narrowing.
Growth · post-peak annualTop five filers hold 56% of top-100 activity
The top five filers — TerraPower, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Terrestrial Energy, Saltfoss Energy, and Utah Green Energy Technologies — jointly account for 56% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent records. This level of concentration means that new entrants face established blocking positions in reactor system design but will find the alloy materials science branches (C22C, C22F) far less densely occupied.
High concentrationThree active co-filing pairs, all bilateral
Three co-filing relationships are evident: Seaborg Technologies with Saltfoss Energy (2 joint filings), the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics with Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals (2 filings), and the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics with the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2 filings). The Chinese academy-industry pair is the only one bridging a materials producer with a research institution, suggesting a deliberate supply-chain IP strategy. No Western equivalent of this materials-focused consortium is visible in the evidence.
Bilateral partnershipsEPO leads, China and US closely matched
Europe (EPO) is the leading filing jurisdiction with 24 patent records, followed closely by China at 23 and the United States at 20. WIPO (PCT) filings at 18 and Canada at 14 indicate that major filers are pursuing broad multi-jurisdictional coverage, not domestic-only strategies. The presence of Israel, India, Denmark, and Singapore in the distribution suggests applicants are hedging across emerging nuclear-program markets.
Multi-regionalGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Seaborg Technologies | Saltfoss Energy ApS | 2 |
| Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
TerraPower anchors reactor architecture; Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics owns alloy materials science
The two leading applicants occupy almost non-overlapping technology spaces: TerraPower’s portfolio is concentrated in nuclear reactor system claims (G21C3, G21C1, G21C7), while the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics builds its IP on alloy composition (C22C19) and non-ferrous metal treatment (C22F1) — the materials layer underlying corrosion resistance.
TerraPower LLC
TerraPower holds 29 patent records — the largest count in the corpus and nearly double the second-ranked filer. Its technology focus is concentrated across G21C3 (27 records), G21C1 (22 records), and G21C7 (15 records), indicating a broad reactor-architecture strategy. No momentum data from the recent window places TerraPower among the new entrants, consistent with an established portfolio being maintained rather than rapidly expanded.
patent records: 29Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CAS)
With 14 patent records, the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics is the only top-tier filer whose primary IPC focus is alloy composition (C22C19, 13 records) and non-ferrous metal treatment (C22F1, 8 records) rather than reactor systems. Its active co-filing with Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals and the Institute of Metal Research (CAS) positions it as the hub of China’s materials-science corrosion cluster, pursuing a supply-chain IP strategy distinct from Western reactor-design approaches.
patent records: 14| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Saltfoss Energy ApS | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Curio Solutions LLC | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| Alpha Tech Research Corp. | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches in alloy science and reactor systems integration
While G21C (Nuclear reactors) dominates the corpus, several adjacent IPC branches show low filing density relative to their technical relevance to MSR corrosion resistance — making them worth monitoring as potential areas for focused IP development.
C22C · Alloys (composition)
With only 15 patent records — roughly 8% of the G21C class volume — alloy composition claims remain sparsely filed despite being foundational to corrosion resistance in molten salt environments. The Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics is almost the sole significant filer in this branch among top applicants; Western developers have largely left it unclaimed. An entrant with proprietary nickel-molybdenum-chromium or refractory alloy formulations could build differentiated, materials-layer IP with relatively limited prior-art density to design around.
Search this in Eureka →C22F · Non-ferrous metal treatment
C22F (Non-ferrous metal treatment, including heat treatment and surface treatment of alloys) holds just 9 patent records — roughly 5% of the leading branch. Process-level claims covering thermomechanical treatment routes for MSR-grade alloys are structurally adjacent to alloy composition IP and practically necessary for qualifying materials to reactor specifications. The branch is observable primarily in the Chinese academy cluster; no Western commercial entity appears prominently. This sparsity, combined with the clear technical path from alloy composition to processing qualification, makes it an under-served adjacent branch worth evaluating.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | G21C 3 · Nuclear reactors | G21C 1 · Nuclear reactors | G21C 7 · Nuclear reactors | G21C 5 · Nuclear reactors | G21C 17 · Nuclear reactors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TerraPower LLC | Strong · 27 | Strong · 22 | Strong · 15 | Absent | Moderate · 13 |
| Terrestrial Energy Inc. | Strong · 11 | Strong · 11 | Absent | Strong · 11 | Strong · 11 |
| Transatomic Power Corp. | Strong · 6 | Strong · 6 | Strong · 4 | Strong · 6 | Absent |
| Curio Solutions LLC | Strong · 8 | Strong · 7 | Moderate · 2 | Moderate · 3 | Absent |
| Saltfoss Energy ApS | Strong · 9 | Strong · 9 | Absent | Emerging · 1 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 98 patent families in scope. The applicant ranking and IPC branch counts are reported at the patent-record level, which can exceed the family total because a family may be filed in multiple jurisdictions or carry multiple classifications.
TerraPower LLC leads the applicant ranking with 29 patent records, nearly double the second-ranked filer, the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (Chinese Academy of Sciences) at 14 patent records.
The field is classified as Growth stage. Recent three-year filing volume is 44% above the prior three-year window. However, annual volume has eased from a peak of 27 records in 2018, and the most recent filing years are further understated by publication lag — so the apparent low counts in 2025 and 2026 do not represent a genuine decline.
Europe (EPO) leads with 24 patent records, followed by China at 23 and the United States at 20. WIPO (PCT) filings stand at 18 and Canada at 14, reflecting broad multi-jurisdictional prosecution strategies by major filers.
Three bilateral co-filing relationships are in evidence: Seaborg Technologies with Saltfoss Energy (2 joint filings), the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics with Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals (2 filings), and the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics with the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2 filings). The Chinese pairings are the only ones linking a materials producer with a research institute.
The alloy composition branch (C22C) and the non-ferrous metal treatment branch (C22F) are the most sparsely filed adjacent areas, holding 15 and 9 patent records respectively compared to the dominant G21C reactor-systems branch at 133 records. These materials-science branches are technically central to MSR corrosion resistance but have attracted limited filing activity, particularly from Western commercial entities.
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Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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