Lightbridge Corporation

being recorded, and it is now my pleasure to introduce Matthew Abinante, Director of Investor Relations for Lightbridge Corporation. You may begin.

Thank you, Sean, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. The company's earnings press release was distributed yesterday and can be viewed on the Investor Relations page of the Lightbridge website at www.ltbridge.com. Joining us on the call today is Seth Gray, Chief Executive Officer. along with Larry Goldman, Chief Financial Officer, Andrei Mushikov, Executive Vice President for Nuclear Operations, Scott Holcomb, Vice President of Engineering, and Sherry Holloway, Controller. I would like to remind our listeners that any statements on this call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Today's presentation includes forward-looking statements about the company's competitive position and product and service offerings. During today's call, words such as expect, anticipate, believe, and intend will be used in our discussion of goals or events in the future. This presentation is based on current expectations and involves certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly from such estimates. These and other risks are set forth in more detail in LIBRIDGE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lightbridge does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. And with that, I would like to turn the call over to our first speaker, Seth Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge. Hello, Seth.

Well, thank you. Hello, Matt. Hello, everybody. And thank you all for joining us to discuss Lightbridge's first quarter results. We are continuing to make progress on our fuel development activities. successfully completing our work under our second DOE Gain Voucher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Our work at PNNL advanced a critical stage in the manufacturing process of light bridge fuel by demonstrating a casting process using depleted uranium zirconium metal, uranium zirconium material. This accomplishment further demonstrates our ability to effectively collaborate with national laboratories and government agencies. Since entering into the strategic partnership project and cooperative research and development agreement umbrella agreements with INL in December of last year, we have made good progress on this project. In the first quarter, we completed development of the quality implementation plan. This was an essential first step to ensure all future work performed at INL on the project will be conducted in accordance with the nuclear quality assurance requirements of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We are now working closely with INL on the next task, which is a demonstration of the casting of delta phase uranium zirconium ingots with depleted uranium using existing INL equipment. In February, we announced publication of a peer-reviewed technical paper on the disposition of weapons-grade plutonium. A computer simulation revealed that a Lightbridge-designed fuel rod significantly outperforms traditional mixed oxide fuel in consuming plutonium, making the Lightbridge-designed rods well-suited for consuming excess weapons-grade plutonium. The paper was co-authored by Aaron Toggemeier, Ph.D., senior nuclear fuel consultant to Lightbridge, and by Braden Goddard, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. The paper was published in Nuclear Technology, the leading international technical journal reporting new information on the practical application of nuclear science for peaceful uses. Additionally, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office have granted LightBridge additional key patents. These latest additions to our growing intellectual property portfolio are a testament to the ingenuity and hard work of our team. We believe this technology will play a vital role in enhancing the safety and economics of nuclear power for both existing, for both currently operating reactors and small modular reactors that are being developed ultimately positioning LightBridge as a major player in the global nuclear power industry. Our leadership has been significantly bolstered by the appointment of Sherry Goodman as a new independent director and chair of the new Energy Security and National Security Committee of the Board of Directors, and by Dr. Scott Holcomb, who has joined LightBridge as Vice President of Engineering. Their wealth of experience and knowledge is valuable in advancing our fuel development efforts and guiding our company's strategy. Scott is participating on this call and he will speak soon. We recently announced that the company has been selected by the U.S. government to join two vital nuclear power groups, the U.S. Department of Energy's High Assay Low Enriched Uranium or HALU Consortium and the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration's Small Modular Reactor Working Group. Our active participation in these prestigious groups is helping us participate in the latest policy discussions and stay abreast of progress with respect to U.S. production of Halo, as well as the deployment of small modular reactors in Europe. These alliances with industry leaders, government agencies, and other key stakeholders contribute to a cleaner, more secure energy future, and we believe will also open up new avenues for collaboration and growth for LightBridge. I'll turn the call over to Andrei Mushakov, Executive VP for Nuclear Operations, to review our ongoing fuel development activities. Andrei?