Nuclea Energy has signed a definitive merger agreement with NorthStrive Acquisition Corp I (Nasdaq: NSAI), a publicly listed special purpose acquisition company, at an enterprise value of $350 million. The announcement was made on November 2, 2026. Once the transaction closes, the combined company will be renamed Nuclea-X Inc. and listed on Nasdaq.
Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Nuclea develops advanced nuclear technologies to supply reliable, low-emission electricity to data centers, industry and other large energy consumers. Its flagship project is the Morpheus reactor, a modular microreactor designed to scale from 3.5 to 50 megawatts electric. The portfolio also includes the Stable Salt Reactor-Wasteburner (SSR-W), a modular molten salt reactor.
The second pillar is the acquisition of Moltex, a deal signed in August and still in progress. Moltex brings the WATSS process for recycling spent fuel. According to SEC filings, the asset purchase price is approximately $8.5 million, and Moltex has already completed the first phase of the SSR-W design review with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The stated goal is to build a closed fuel cycle, in which the waste from one plant becomes feedstock for another.
The agreement includes additional shares tied to the achievement of technology and licensing milestones and to securing at least $100 million in government or otherwise non-dilutive funding. Nuclea’s management remains in place, with Josef Freundorfer as chief executive officer and Sagar Sanghera in an executive role. NorthStrive closed its $100 million initial public offering on August 19, 2026.
Closing is expected in the first half of 2027 and is subject to several conditions: completion of the Moltex acquisition, regulatory approvals, shareholder approval, effectiveness of the SEC registration statement and approval for listing. Electricity demand from data centers and industry is pushing investors toward small-scale reactors, and SPACs are one of the channels bringing these developers to the capital markets.
If the deal goes through, Nuclea-X will be one of the few listed companies focused on both microreactors and fuel recycling. For Europe, and for Italy as it reopens the nuclear dossier, it is a test case for SMRs and closing the fuel cycle.
