SMR Irradiation & Corrosion Durability Patent Snapshot
The patent corpus for SMR irradiation and corrosion durability is exceptionally small — 7 patent families, all held by a single applicant, Thorizon Holding BV, concentrated in molten-salt nuclear reactor design. The field peaked in 2020 and has recorded no new filings since, signalling either an early proprietary staking-out phase or a gap that the broader SMR community has yet to address in formal IP.
A single applicant holds the entire documented patent position
Thorizon Holding BV is the sole ranked applicant in this corpus, accounting for all 7 patent families in scope. No second-tier filer is present in the evidence.
Concentration is absolute: Thorizon’s share of the top ranked applicants visible in this query is 100%, meaning no competing IP position has yet been established by any other organisation within this defined topic boundary.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thorizon Holding BV | 7 |
This position implies that any entrant developing materials or components targeting irradiation and corrosion durability in small modular reactors faces a clear evidence snapshot in terms of prior IP clutter from incumbents, but must account for Thorizon’s foundational molten-salt reactor family as a potential blocking position.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and may be under-represented; apparent zero activity after 2020 should be interpreted cautiously until publications catch up. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
All activity concentrated in a single 2020 filing cohort; technology narrowly focused on nuclear reactor design
The filing trend and technology composition together reveal a field that was defined by a discrete, concentrated IP event rather than sustained industry-wide activity. Both charts reflect the corpus’s narrow scope.
Annual filing trend
All 7 patent families entered the corpus in 2020, with zero recorded filings in every other observed year. The lifecycle evidence identifies 2020 as the peak year, with annual volume having eased fully since. Given publication lag, filings from 2024–2026 may still be pending public disclosure, so the apparent flatline should not be read as definitive cessation.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
The entire corpus falls under G21C (Nuclear reactors), with no dispersion into adjacent materials, corrosion chemistry, or structural engineering classes. This narrow IPC footprint indicates that current patent protection is framed around reactor system architecture rather than explicit materials-durability mechanisms.
↗ 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.
Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor
The invention relates to a nuclear reactor circuit that is capable of containing nuclear fuel-containing molten salt in a channel which is substantially vertically arranged and provides an up-down passage. The circuits can be used to build a modular reactor from removable, individual molten salt nuclear circuits one part of which (‘the channel’) has been… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 10 |
| 2 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 3 |
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.
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 Holding BV
Thorizon holds all 7 patent families in scope, with technology emphasis concentrated across G21C 1 (Nuclear reactors) and G21C 3 (Nuclear reactors) — each associated with all 7 families — plus G21C 7 (reactor control, 2 families). The applicant momentum evidence is not available for trajectory calculation, but the filing record shows all activity in 2020 with no subsequent additions. The most cited works in the corpus relate to modular core molten-salt nuclear reactor design.
families: 7No challenger on record
The evidence contains only one ranked applicant. No second-tier filer, research institution, or government body has established a documented patent position within this topic boundary. This absence itself is a strategic signal: the challenger position is open, and the first organisation to file materials- or corrosion-focused claims in this space would immediately become the second-largest holder.
families: 0Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 7 patent families in scope, all filed in 2020 and all held by a single applicant, Thorizon Holding BV.
Thorizon Holding BV is the only ranked applicant in the evidence, holding all 7 patent families. No second applicant has been identified.
All 7 patent families fall under G21C (Nuclear reactors). No other IPC class is represented in the current corpus.
Patent records appear across Europe (EPO), the United States, Canada, the Eurasian Patent Office, and via WIPO PCT — covering the principal reactor-deployment markets.
The field is classified as Decline, with annual filings having eased back from the 2020 peak. However, given publication lag for recent years, any filings from 2024 onward may not yet have appeared in the public record.
The evidence does not return algorithmically scored white-space candidates, but the absence of materials-science (C22), corrosion-monitoring (G01N), and structural-coating (C23) classes from the corpus suggests that adjacent branches may be open for new filing activity independent of Thorizon’s system-level reactor patents.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.