Lightbridge Corporation

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the LightBridge Corporation Business Update and Third Quarter 2024 Conference Call. Please note that today's call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Matthew Abinanti, Director of Investor Relations for LightBridge Corporation. Please go ahead.

Well, thank you, 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 Andrei Mushikov, Executive Vice President for Nuclear Operations, Scott Holcomb, Vice President of Engineering, Larry Goldman, Chief Financial Officer, 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 that differ significantly from such estimates. These and other risks are set forth in more detail in Lightbridge'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'd like to turn the call over to our first speaker, Seth Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge. Hello, Seth. Hi, Matt.

And thank you all for joining us to discuss Lightbridge's third quarter 2024 results. At Lightbridge, we are advancing nuclear fuel technology that is set to address critical challenges facing the nuclear industry. Our focus has always been on making nuclear energy safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective than existing fuel. We are designing Lightbridge fuel to deliver superior performance, in existing reactors and next-generation water-cooled reactors, including small modular reactors. We are developing the fuel to offer several key advantages over traditional fuel. First, it may be able to increase power output by 10% to 17% in existing pressurized water reactors, PWRs, and up to 30% in new-built PWRs. Utilities could produce more energy from the same reactors, extending the lifespan of those plants and maximizing their value. Second, light-rich fuel is expected to operate at 1,000 degrees Celsius cooler than existing fuels. This is a crucial safety enhancement. A cooler operating temperature means the fuel is more stable and reduces the risk of overheating in normal operation or design basis accidents. But safety and efficiency aren't the only benefits. A different concept of metallic fuel technology could be designed to help reduce global stockpiles of plutonium. The ability to incorporate plutonium in metallic fuel could contribute to both energy production and nuclear nonproliferation efforts. In addition to our focus on fueling existing nuclear power plants, we are also positioning light-bridge fuel to potentially power the small modular reactors of the future. The US Department of Energy is funding two separate studies at MIT and at Texas A&M University to evaluate the use of our fuel in small modular reactors, particularly the new scale Voyager design. Small modular reactors can play a significant role in the future energy mix, providing scalable, safe, and flexible power solutions for utilities and industries. Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our strategy, completing the fuel development process, achieving regulatory approvals, and establishing commercial arrangements with utilities and other key players in the energy sector to generate revenue from our fuel technology. We believe the opportunity for LightBridge is immense. As nuclear fuel is poised to reclaim its place as a cornerstone of global energy supply, we believe light-bridge fuel will be integral to making nuclear energy safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. Now I'll turn the call over to Andrei Mushakov, Executive VP for Nuclear Operations, to begin the review of our fuel development activities. Andrei?