Small Modular Reactor Waste Management Patent Snapshot
The SMR waste management patent space is a nascent but tightly concentrated field, with the top five filers among the hundred largest filers accounting for 96% of their combined activity and Thorizon Hldg BV holding the single largest position. Annual filing volumes have plateaued near their 2020 peak, though a wave of new entrants in the most recent window signals continued strategic interest.
Thorizon leads a highly concentrated, early-stage patent cohort
Thorizon Hldg BV ranks first with 9 patent families, followed closely by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. with 8 and Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd. with 5, establishing a clear top-three tier in a field of only 24 patent families in scope.
The top five filers’ 96% share of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total indicates extreme concentration — a handful of specialized or state-backed organizations currently define the boundaries of this space, leaving limited prior art for new entrants to navigate but also limited freedom-to-operate signals to read.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thorizon Hldg BV | 9 | |
| 2 | KOREA HYDRO & NUCLEAR POWER CO LTD | 8 | |
| 3 | Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd. | 5 | |
| 4 | General Electric Co. | 2 | |
| 5 | Nuwell Energy Inc. | 1 | |
| 6 | Betaber Zilevitch Maoz | 1 |
Thorizon’s lead, built entirely on G21C nuclear reactor sub-classes, reflects a reactor-integrated waste-handling philosophy, while Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s comparable portfolio signals that state utilities are treating SMR waste management as a core competency rather than a downstream problem.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; the 2025–2026 figures should be treated as floor estimates. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filings plateaued after a 2020 surge; reactor-core classes dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend and IPC technology composition together reveal a field that burst into activity in 2020 and has since settled into a slower but steady cadence, with nuclear reactor engineering classes accounting for the overwhelming share of disclosed inventions.
Annual filing trend
Filing volume spiked to 8 families in 2020, then eased before recovering to 5 in both 2023 and 2025. Annual volume has plateaued near its 2020 peak rather than continuing to climb; the 2025–2026 bars reflect incomplete publication and should not be read as a decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G21C (Nuclear reactors) is visible in with 25 patent records, and G21D (Nuclear power plants) contributes 5. The remaining branches — including G21F (Radiation protection & shielding), F17C (Pressure vessels & gas storage), B65G (Conveying & material handling), and E21B (Earth & rock drilling) — each appear only once, marking them as sparse adjacent areas relative to the reactor-engineering core.
↗ 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.
Nuclear power plant including small modular reacto…
The present invention relates to a nuclear power plant which includes a small modular reactor (SMR), the nuclear power plant comprising a water tank, wherein the water tank comprises: a first water tank filled with cooling water and forming a first space in which spent nuclear fuel is disposed; and a second water tank forming a second space which is… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Module reactor for land power plant and its manufa… | 11 |
| 2 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 10 |
| 3 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 3 |
| 4 | Nuclear power plant comprising small modular react… | 2 |
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 structural evidence means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of high concentration, a plateauing trend, a single active collaboration pair, and. Europe as the leading filing jurisdiction shapes a specific risk-and-opportunity profile for engineers entering this space.
Field is at Maturity with annual volume plateaued near its 2020 peak
Annual filings have plateaued near their 2020 peak rather than compounding. The multi-year window still shows positive growth of 11%, but the pace has eased. New entrants appearing in the most recent window suggest latent demand, but the foundational reactor-integration architecture is already being staked out.
Maturity stage96% concentration among the top five signals a small, specialized oligopoly
With only 24 patent families in scope and the top five filers among the ranked applicants visible in this query holding 96% of their combined total, this is effectively a specialist field. New entrants face a thin but targeted prior-art landscape. Differentiation through adjacent IPC branches — shielding, material handling, deep-well disposal — offers a plausible path around the core reactor claims.
High concentrationOne active co-filing pair: Trojer Mathias and Prodigy Clean Energy
The only co-applicant relationship in the corpus links Trojer Mathias with Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., with 2 jointly filed families. This is the sole collaboration signal in the evidence; the broader field remains dominated by solo corporate or state-utility filers, suggesting that open R&D partnerships remain rare and potentially underexploited.
Limited collaborationEurope (EPO) and the United States tied as leading jurisdictions, with Korea close behind
Europe (EPO) and the United States each host 5 patent records, South Korea and WIPO (PCT) each host 4, and Canada and India each host 2. The PCT route’s presence signals applicants seeking broad international coverage. South Korea’s position reflects Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s state-backed filing strategy.
Multi-jurisdictionGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| TROJER MATHIAS | Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd. | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Thorizon Hldg BV
Thorizon holds 9 patent families, the largest single-applicant position in the corpus. Its technology focus is concentrated across G21C 1, G21C 3, and G21C 19 sub-classes, indicating a reactor-integrated approach covering core design, fuel assemblies, and spent-fuel handling. Momentum evidence is not available for Thorizon in the recent-vs-prior window, suggesting its portfolio was built predominantly in the earlier filing period.
families: 9Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. holds 8 patent families and is flagged as a new entrant in the most recent filing window with 6 recent families, indicating a rapid and deliberate build-out. Its focus spans G21C 1, G21C 15 (coolant systems), and G21C 19 (spent-fuel and waste handling), reflecting a broader operational scope than Thorizon and a state-utility mandate to own the full SMR waste cycle.
families: 8Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 24 patent families in scope globally. This is a small but strategically active field, with filings spanning Europe, the United States, South Korea, Canada, India, Japan, and the WIPO PCT route.
Thorizon Hldg BV leads with 9 patent families, followed by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. with 8 and Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd. with 5. General Electric Co. holds 2 families, and Nuwell Energy Inc. and Betaber Zilevitch Maoz each hold 1.
The field is characterized as Maturity, with annual filings having plateaued near their 2020 peak. The multi-year window shows 11% growth, but the annual cadence has eased from that peak rather than continuing to climb.
Europe (EPO) and the United States each host 5 patent records, South Korea and WIPO (PCT) each host 4, Canada and India each host 2, and Japan, Austria (AT), and the Eurasian Patent Office (EA) each host 1.
The only co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between Trojer Mathias and Energie Propre Prodigy Ltée / Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., with 2 jointly filed families. The remainder of the field consists of solo filers, making open R&D partnerships rare in this corpus.
Five IPC branches each appear only once: A61K (Medicinal preparations), B65G (Conveying & material handling), E21B (Earth & rock drilling / deep disposal), F17C (Pressure vessels & gas storage), and F24T (Geothermal systems). Each represents a sparse adjacent area relative to the visible G21C reactor-engineering core, though their commercial relevance varies and would require further validation.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
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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