U. of I. and NANO Nuclear have continued technical engagement with the NRC through the ongoing audit process following formal acceptance of the KRONOS MMR^™ Construction Permit Application for review

Continued licensing progress supports NANO Nuclear’s previously disclosed expectation for the opportunity to begin initial construction activities in the second half of 2027

New York, N.Y., Oct. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or the “Company”), an advanced nuclear energy and technology company developing microreactors, nuclear fuel cycle capabilities and nuclear transportation solutions, today announced continued progress in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (“NRC”) review of the Construction Permit Application (“CPA”) for deployment of NANO Nuclear’s KRONOS MMR^™ Energy System at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (“U. of I.”).

Following the submission of the CPA by U. of I. on March 31, 2026, formal acceptance of the CPA for review by the NRC on May 18, 2026, and the initiation of formal review activities on June 23, 2026, U. of I. and NANO Nuclear have since been engaging with the NRC as part of its detailed audit and technical review process for several months.

Throughout the ongoing audit, technical teams from U. of I. and NANO Nuclear have maintained frequent engagement with NRC staff, responding to questions, providing additional information and discussing technical areas identified by the NRC as part of its review. NANO Nuclear believes this sustained interaction represents an important component of advancing the CPA through the NRC’s safety, environmental and technical review process.

The current audit activities are expected to continue over the near-term, with U. of I. and NANO Nuclear seeing opportunity for completion of this phase in the coming months, subject to the NRC’s review schedule, the scope and timing of any additional information requests and other regulatory considerations.

Figure 1- Rendering of NANO Nuclear Energy’s KRONOS MMR^™ Energy System on the U. of I. Campus.

The NRC’s current public project schedule targets completion of a draft Environmental Assessment and draft Safety Evaluation in February 2027 with a final Environmental Assessment in May 2027, followed by issuance of the final Safety Evaluation in September 2027. These milestones remain consistent with NANO Nuclear’s previously disclosed expectation for initial construction activities for the KRONOS MMR^™ project at the U. of I. to commence during the second half of 2027, subject to receipt of the required regulatory approvals and other customary project requirements.

“The continued progress of the KRONOS MMR^™ through the NRC’s review process reflects the years of technical, regulatory and engineering work that have gone into this program,” said Jay Yu, Chairman and President of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Together with U. of I., we are steadily advancing one of the most important objectives for NANO Nuclear: moving our flagship reactor technology from engineering and development toward construction and real-world demonstration. Each step forward in the licensing process brings us closer to that goal and strengthens the foundation for our broader deployment strategy.”

“The NRC’s review of the KRONOS MMR^™ Construction Permit Application is a detailed and rigorous process, and the sustained engagement between the NRC, U. of I. and our technical teams is exactly what we expect at this stage of the program,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Our focus is on working methodically through the NRC’s questions and technical areas of review and providing the information necessary to support its independent evaluation. We are encouraged by the progress to date and remain focused on maintaining the technical and regulatory discipline required to advance the KRONOS MMR^™ project toward the opportunity to begin initial construction activities in the second half of 2027.”

“A project of this nature requires extensive and sustained engagement with the NRC to demonstrate the safety basis of the technology and provide the rigorous technical information necessary for the regulator’s independent review,” said Caleb Brooks, Abel Bliss Professor and Donald Biggar Willett Faculty Scholar of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the U. of I.’s Grainger College of Engineering. “The ongoing audit provides an important forum for our teams to work through detailed technical questions with NRC staff as the Construction Permit Application progresses. We remain committed to this rigorous process and to advancing the KRONOS MMR^™ project as a potentially unique platform for nuclear research, education, workforce development and at-scale demonstration.”