Lightbridge (NASDAQ:LTBR) said its third-quarter business update centered on a new Department of Energy pathway intended to support development of a pilot manufacturing facility for its nuclear fuel technology, while the company increased research spending and reported a wider loss for the first nine months of 2026.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Seth Grae said Lightbridge was selected in August for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad INL program, which is administered by the Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory. The selection is intended to provide an accelerated pathway toward DOE authorization for the company to design, build and operate a pilot facility at INL that would manufacture lead test assemblies of Lightbridge Fuel for demonstration in U.S. commercial reactors.
The company has named the proposed facility the Lightbridge Fuel Pilot Factory, informally referring to it as “SHED.” Grae said the facility is intended to produce lead test assemblies under DOE authorization, while Lightbridge continues work on the conceptual design of a future commercial-scale Lightbridge Fuel Factory.
Pilot Factory Still Subject to Reviews and Agreements
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Andrey Mushakov said Lightbridge is working with NRIC and INL on applicable agreements and project scope. He emphasized that construction remains subject to further DOE and INL agreements, reviews, authorizations and other prerequisites.
As of Sept. 30, the company had not made any material binding commitments for construction of the pilot facility. Lightbridge plans to design the site as a multipurpose fuel-manufacturing and research-and-development platform with a dedicated R&D laboratory, operating under an NQA-1 nuclear quality-assurance program from the outset.
Mushakov also noted that DOE authorization for the pilot factory would not authorize the use of lead test assemblies in commercial power reactors. Any commercial reactor use would require Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing, review and approval, as well as any necessary approval from the host utility.
The company said its planned lead-test-assembly work will require qualified sources of uranium feedstock, including high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, and uranium metal. Lightbridge is evaluating potential supply sources, alternative arrangements and infrastructure requirements.
In July, Lightbridge signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Quadrant Nuclear Industries concerning potential long-term HALEU supply from QNI’s planned Vanguard facility at INL. Grae said the memorandum does not establish pricing, quantities or exclusivity, and any binding arrangement would require a definitive agreement.
Testing Program Advances at Idaho National Laboratory
Lightbridge also announced an August project task statement under its cooperative research and development agreement with Battelle Energy Alliance, the DOE operating contractor for INL. The agreement gives the company access to the loop testing facility at INL’s Advanced Test Reactor.
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Scott Holcombe said the loop can irradiate fuel in an independently controlled environment that simulates the coolant chemistry, temperature, pressure and flow conditions experienced by a fuel rod in a commercial light-water reactor.
Under the task statement, Lightbridge plans to test clad enriched uranium-zirconium fuel rodlets in cylindrical and multi-lobe geometries. The work includes experiment design, materials provision, assembly, irradiation, shipment and disposition of materials. Samples from the irradiation are intended for later transient-condition testing at INL’s Transient Reactor Test Facility.
Holcombe said post-irradiation examination has begun on the first batch of fuel-material samples removed from the Advanced Test Reactor in May. The work is designed to collect material-property data at varying burnup levels to validate fuel-performance models and support the company’s licensing efforts.
Grae said Lightbridge expects to disclose its first meaningful quantitative results from post-irradiation examination in the first half of 2027. He also said management believes a utility could make a conditional commitment to host Lightbridge Fuel lead test assemblies before completion of the full Advanced Test Reactor loop irradiation program, subject to satisfactory irradiation and regulatory results.
Company Cites Nuclear Capacity Opportunity
Grae said Lightbridge Fuel is designed to increase output from an existing reactor by up to 10% without changes to steam generators, and by up to 20% at plants that move to high-capacity steam generators. He said new-build reactors equipped with higher-capacity steam generators could see an increase of roughly one-third, though he added that the company’s testing and licensing program is intended to confirm those design targets.
The company also reported receiving notice in September of a patent allowance from the Japan Patent Office covering its multi-zone fuel element and 3D-printing method.
Loss Widens as Research Spending Rises
For the first nine months of 2026, Lightbridge reported a net loss of $20.4 million, or $0.62 per share, compared with a net loss of $12.4 million, or $0.55 per share, in the same period of 2025.
- Total operating expenses rose to $25.6 million from $14.5 million.
- Research and development expenses increased to $12.6 million from $5.3 million.
- General and administrative expenses rose to $13 million from $9.2 million.
- Other income increased to $5.2 million from $2.1 million, primarily due to interest income on higher cash balances.
Controller Lesli Mills said the increase in R&D spending reflected higher employee and stock-based compensation, software and high-performance computing expenses, INL project labor costs, critical heat-flux testing and safety-analysis development.
Chief Financial Officer Larry Goldman said the company held approximately $236.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30, up from approximately $201.9 million at the end of 2025, and had no debt. Cash used in operating activities totaled about $13.2 million during the first nine months, compared with $8.1 million a year earlier.
During the nine-month period, Lightbridge sold 4.3 million shares through its at-the-market sales agreement with Jefferies, generating net proceeds of $48.9 million. About $91.4 million remained available under the company’s $150 million ATM program as of Sept. 30.
Goldman said development of the pilot factory is expected to be a significant multiyear investment and that Lightbridge expects it will require additional capital over time. Potential funding sources include strategic partnerships, government grants and contracts, and additional capital-markets transactions, he said.
About Lightbridge (NASDAQ:LTBR)
Lightbridge Corporation is a nuclear technology company focused on developing advanced nuclear fuel designs for commercial nuclear reactors. Its primary technology is a proprietary metallic fuel intended for use in existing light-water reactors and certain advanced reactor concepts.
The company’s fuel technology is designed to support higher reactor power output, improved fuel performance and enhanced safety characteristics compared with conventional nuclear fuel designs. Lightbridge is also developing fuel rod and fuel assembly concepts and has worked with research and government organizations, including Idaho National Laboratory, to advance testing and commercialization efforts.
Founded in 1992 as Thorium Power, the company adopted the Lightbridge name in 2010.
