NRC clears Dow and X-energy to build four reactors in Texas
The permit is the first for a high-temperature gas reactor in nearly 60 years, and the first for a nuclear plant at a U.S. industrial site.
Federal regulators on Monday approved a construction permit for four small modular reactors at a Dow chemical complex on the Texas Gulf Coast. It is the first time the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cleared a nuclear plant for a U.S. industrial site.
The permit covers the Long Mott Generating Station at Dow’s Seadrift operations in Calhoun County. The project would use four Xe-100 reactors designed by X-energy, each rated at 80 MW of electricity and 200 MW of heat, for a combined 320 MW of electric capacity. Dow and X-energy announced the approval Monday.
Unlike most U.S. reactors, this plant is meant to serve a factory. It would supply electricity and high-temperature steam to the Seadrift site, replacing energy and steam equipment the companies say is near the end of its life. They expect the units to run for 60 years.
The Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that uses helium as its coolant and fuel packed into graphite pebbles. The companies said it is the first construction permit for that type of reactor in nearly 60 years and the first for a pebble-bed design. The NRC finished its safety and environmental review within its 18-month schedule.
A permit is not a commitment to build. Dow expects to weigh a preliminary investment decision in 2027, and full construction would begin only after a final decision. The project also needs a separate NRC operating license before it can load fuel. The companies are targeting first power in the early 2030s.
The project is part of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The announcement did not include a cost estimate.
Sources: Dow and X-energy announcement, Investing.com, Interesting Engineering
