US-based X-Energy has applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction permit for their proposed advanced nuclear project in Seadrift, Texas.
Dow’s proposed advanced small modular reactor (SMR) project is being developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Long Mott Energy. The project aims to supply Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site with power and industrial steam replacing existing energy and steam assets that are near end-of-life. The project is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) which is designed to accelerate the deployment of advanced reactors through cost-shared partnerships with US industry.
X-energy was selected by DOE in 2020 to receive up to $1.2bn in matching funds under the ARDP to develop, license, build, and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade. X-Energy has since completed the reactor engineering and basic design and is developing a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge in Tennessee.
X-energy is developing the Xe-100, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with a thermal output of 200 MWt or an electrical output of 80 MWe. It can be scaled into a four-pack 320 MWe power plant, fuelled by the company’s proprietary TRISO-X tri-structural isotropic particle fuel. The Xe-100 evolved from both the UK’s Dragon reactor at Winfrith in Dorset and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project in South Africa.
The initial Xe-100 plant is planned for Dow’s UCC Seadrift site. X-energy says the project is expected to be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America, providing the site with power and high-temperature steam.
The Seadrift site encompasses 4,700 acres and manufactures more than 4 billion pounds of materials annually used across a wide variety of applications including food packaging and preservation, footwear, wire and cable insulation, solar cell membranes, and packaging for medical and pharmaceutical products. The site currently relies on gas-fired combustion and steam turbines for the majority of its energy.
Dow and X-Energy signed a joint development agreement in 2024 ear to deploy a four-unit Xe-100 at the site by 2030. The agreement includes up to $50m in funding, up to half of which is eligible through ARDP, and the other half from Dow. Finalisation of the site selection process paved the way for the two companies to prepare and submit a construction permit application to NRC.
Since 2018, X-energy, and subsequently Dow, have worked with the NRC through extensive pre-application engagements to demonstrate the unparalleled safety profile of the Xe-100 advanced SMR through its advanced fuel design, passive safety features, and state-of-the-art analysis techniques. This has culminated in a comprehensive application submittal that exceeds NRC regulations for the protection of public health and safety, as well as the environment, with substantial safety features.
Approval of the construction permit could take up to 30 months. Once the permit is received and upon Dow confirming the ability to deliver the project while achieving its financial return targets, construction could begin.
“This is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the US,” said Edward Stones, business vice president, Energy & Climate at Dow. “We look forward to engaging with the NRC, DOE, our business partners and the community throughout the application process.”
J Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy noted: “Together with our world-class partner, Dow, we will demonstrate how the technology deployed at Seadrift, Texas, can be quickly and efficiently replicated to meet incredible power demand growth across America.”
The proposed project could begin construction later this decade and start up early next decade.
