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Lightbridge Corporation ("Lightbridge" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, today announced that it has received a Notification of Patent Grant from the Korean Ministry of Intellectual Property ("MOIP"), formerly the Korean Intellectual Property Office, for Korean Patent Application No. 10-2025-7001591, titled "Nuclear Fuel Assembly." The application covers 17 claims directed to a fuel assembly in which the fuel elements are arranged in a mixed grid pattern that combines two different grid patterns. The patent will be registered upon payment of the registration fee.
The allowed claims describe a fuel assembly in which the outermost fuel elements form a substantially circular perimeter, the bundle shape used in pressurized heavy water reactors, including CANDU-type designs. Each fuel element has a multi-lobed profile with spiral ribs, and the ribs of neighboring elements touch at intervals along the assembly length to help hold the elements in position. Dependent claims cover bundles of 19 and 61 fuel elements inside a circular or twelve-sided shroud, grid patterns that alternate along concentric circles, and assemblies that combine four-lobe Lightbridge fuel rods, conventional pelleted fuel rods, or burnable poison rods.
The application is a divisional in the same Korean patent family as the patent Lightbridge announced in August 2022, which required the mixed grid to pair a rectangular grid pattern with a triangular grid pattern. The newly allowed claims cover the mixed grid pattern itself, without requiring any particular grid shape, which gives Lightbridge broader protection in South Korea regarding how its fuel elements can be arranged within a bundle.
South Korea operates 26 reactors that supply about one-third of the country's electricity, including three CANDU 6 pressurized heavy water reactors at the Wolsong site, according to the World Nuclear Association. The government's 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand calls for nuclear power to rise from 30.7% of generation in 2023 to 35.2% in 2038, supported by two new large reactors.
"South Korea is one of the few countries that operates both pressurized water and pressurized heavy water reactors, and it builds and exports its own reactor designs, so patent coverage there supports both our light water and CANDU fuel designs," said Seth Grae, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge Corporation. "Our 2022 Korean patent protected one specific combination of rectangular and triangular grids. These claims broaden patent protection to include the mixed-grid approach."
Lightbridge's fuel technology is backed by an extensive worldwide patent portfolio spanning jurisdictions representing the majority of global nuclear generating capacity.
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 Fuel™, 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®, Russell 3000®, and Solactive Global Uranium and Nuclear Components Total Return Indexes. For more information, please visit www.ltbridge.com.
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Forward Looking Statements
With the exception of historical matters, the matters discussed herein are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations on the date of this news release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly from such estimates. The risks include, but are not limited to: Lightbridge's ability to commercialize its nuclear fuel technology; the degree of market adoption of Lightbridge's product and service offerings; Lightbridge's ability to fund general corporate overhead and outside research and development costs; market competition; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees; dependence on strategic partners; demand for fuel for nuclear reactors; Lightbridge's ability to manage its business effectively in a rapidly evolving market; the availability of nuclear test reactors and the risks associated with unexpected changes in Lightbridge's fuel development timeline; the increased costs associated with metallization of Lightbridge's nuclear fuel; public perception of nuclear energy generally; changes in the political environment; risks associated with war in Europe; changes in the laws, rules and regulations governing Lightbridge's business; development and utilization of, and challenges to, Lightbridge's intellectual property; risks associated with potential shareholder activism; potential and contingent liabilities; as well as other factors described in Lightbridge's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Lightbridge does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new developments or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Lightbridge's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, and in its other filings with the SEC, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements," all of which are available at http://www.sec.gov/ and www.ltbridge.com.
Investor Relations Contact:
Matthew Abenante, IRC
Senior Director of Investor Relations & Capital Markets
Tel: +1 (347) 947-2093
ir@ltbridge.com
