Florida startup builds thorium fuel chain from scratch, starting with Australian mine

A Florida-based nuclear energy startup is taking an unusual approach to building the next generation of atomic power: it’s constructing an entirely new fuel supply chain from the ground up. Ampera announced on Monday that it has set up a subsidiary in Australia, called Ampera Australia Pty Ltd, created in February 2026 with the sole mission of procuring and importing thorium to the United States. This strategic vertical integration is the company’s answer to a fundamental problem: thorium-based nuclear fuel simply does not exist as a commercial commodity today.

By securing raw thorium from an Australian mine, Ampera aims to feed its own advanced reactor program, effectively bypassing the traditional uranium fuel cycle. The company’s plan involves transforming the mined material into specialized TRISO fuel particles, a robust, encapsulated fuel form designed to withstand extreme temperatures and improve reactor safety. Ampera’s leadership argues that controlling the entire chain from extraction to reactor core is essential for cost control and regulatory certainty.

The move underscores a growing interest in thorium as a safer, more abundant alternative to uranium for next-generation nuclear designs. While thorium itself is not fissile, it can be converted into uranium-233 in a reactor, producing energy with significantly less long-lived radioactive waste. Ampera’s Australian subsidiary will serve as the critical first link in that chain, turning a geological resource into a viable fuel source for the company’s planned fleet of advanced reactors.