Meet ASP Isotopes: Fly exclusive interview with CEO Paul E. Mann

In an exclusive interview with The Fly, ASP Isotopes (ASPI) CEO Paul E. Mann talked about the company, its technology, industry, upcoming milestones, and much more.

ISOTOPES PRODUCTION: ASP Isotopes is a pre-commercial stage advanced materials company dedicated to the development of technology and processes to produce isotopes for use in multiple industries. The company “utilizes its proprietary technology to enrich isotopes serving varying end markets ranging from Nuclear Medicine and Nuclear Green Energy to Quantum Computing,” CEO Paul E. Mann told The Fly in an exclusive interview. ASP is based in South Africa and has “two manufacturing plants anticipated to start production next year to fulfill contracts for isotopes in the nuclear medicine sector.”

PACTS WITH REACTOR COMPANIES: ASP Isotopes has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with a second U.S.-based small modular reactors, or SMR, company to establish a facility for producing high-assay, low-enriched uranium, HALEU. “The company focuses on enriching Isotopes in the Green Nuclear Energy Markets. Many companies worldwide are focused on producing next-generation nuclear reactors called small modular reactors. These reactors are being designed to use a new type of enriched uranium called HALEU. There is no current Western producer of HALEU at scale, and we anticipate utilizing our process to supply this fuel to the market. These MoUs represent negotiations that are currently ongoing with large North American SMR companies to produce HALEU to feed their SMRs and expected to come online in the future,” ASP’s chief executive explained.

END MARKETS: ASP Isotopes caters to various end markets. “Our reach spans multiple industries, with nuclear medicine being our primary market, followed by nuclear energy, and venturing into the emerging field of quantum computing,” Mann tells The Fly. “As it stands, the absence of commercial competitors in isotope enrichment production positions us favorably for market dominance. We believe this unique standing grants us a significant advantage in securing and expanding our market share in these diverse yet interconnected sectors.”

Mann further noted that “for nuclear medicine as an example, the PET & SPECT imaging market is made possible by utilizing an isotope called Molybdenum-99 to detect cancer proliferation within the body. The overarching issue with this market is due to the decay — 66 hours — that occurs with the feedstock. Our proposed solution utilizes a stable isotope — Molybdenum-100 — and is expected to produce massive margin benefit to the downstream consumer. We anticipate our technical edge in this market will lead to an increase in market share.”

MILESTONES: Looking out over the next year, ASP’s Mann said the company sees “a lot of exciting milestones.” “We anticipate completing our second commercial plant, producing commercial products, and fulfilling our first commercial take or pay contract in the first half of next year. We believe this contract execution should provide investors with the necessary validation to verify and validate our technology.”

TECHNOLOGICAL KNOW-HOW: While the executive does not believe there are any misconceptions about the company, he does reiterate that “ASP’s technological know-how has been developed and refined over 20-plus years of research and development. We are excited to bring our commercial product online, expecting it to have the potential to solve many of the world’s most pressing problems in medicine, downstream electricity generation, and future technological advancement.”

“Meet the Company” is The Fly’s recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company.