Lightbridge secures breakthrough patent for next-gen nuclear fuel design

Lightbridge Corporation ("Lightbridge" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") for U.S. Patent Application No. 18383,668, titled "Fuel Assembly." The application covers 16 claims directed to fuel assemblies and nuclear reactors incorporating Lightbridge's proprietary spirally twisted, multi-lobed fuel element technology, designed for pressurized heavy-water reactors, including CANDU-type designs.

The allowed claims describe a fuel assembly comprising a plurality of elongated fuel elements, each having a spirally twisted, multi-lobed profile that defines a plurality of spiral ribs. Each fuel element includes a fuel kernel with fissile material disposed in a matrix of metal non-fuel material, surrounded by cladding, with a moderator-to-fuel ratio of 2.4 or less. The patent encompasses both the fuel assembly itself and a nuclear reactor incorporating the assembly in a pressurized heavy water reactor. This application is a divisional of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/237,683 (now issued as U.S. Patent No. 11,837,371), part of a patent family extending back to PCT/US2011/036034, which includes four previously issued U.S. patents.

Seth Grae, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge Corporation, commented, "This Notice of Allowance further strengthens our U.S. intellectual property portfolio, particularly for our multi-lobed fuel element design optimized for pressurized heavy water reactors. The CANDU reactor fleet represents a significant global market opportunity, and this patent further reinforces our technology's applicability to heavy-water reactor designs. Our growing patent portfolio, spanning the United States, Canada, and other key jurisdictions worldwide, underscores the foundational and differentiated nature of Lightbridge FuelTM."

About Lightbridge Corporation Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR) is focused on developing advanced nuclear fuel technology essential to delivering abundant, zero-emission, clean energy and providing energy security to the world. The Company is developing Lightbridge FuelTM, a proprietary next-generation nuclear fuel technology for existing light-water and pressurized heavy-water reactors, significantly enhancing reactor safety, economics, and proliferation resistance. The Company is also developing Lightbridge Fuel for new small modular reactors to deliver the same benefits, plus load-following with renewables, on a zero-carbon electric grid.

Lightbridge has entered into two long-term framework agreements with Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, the United States Department of Energy's operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory, the United States' lead nuclear energy research and development laboratory. DOE's Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program has twice awarded Lightbridge to support the development of Lightbridge Fuel over the past several years. An extensive worldwide patent portfolio backs Lightbridge's innovative fuel technology. Lightbridge is included in the Russell 2000® and Russell 3000® Indexes. For more information, please visit www.ltbridge.com.