Nuclear power companies and technology companies may now look to the US Texas A&M University System for the land needed to test the latest nuclear reactors. While reactor manufacturers and technology companies are signing agreements to provide the power needed for modern computing, few suitable sites have been identified.
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has now agreed to notify regulators at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it has potential sites available at Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan for multiple companies to test and construct the next generation of nuclear reactors. The “test bed” is expected to lead to energy advancements that could provide power to data centres for artificial intelligence (AI) and other high power ventures. Texas A&M System expects to be the only higher education institution with a commercial reactor site licence.
John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M System, said no other entity in the US is nearer to providing a location and the human resources required to get small modular reactors (SMRs) online. The test bed will support multiple reactors from various companies, he noted. The reactors at the site could also put additional power into the state’s energy grid at a time of high demand.
“The Texas A&M System is the missing piece of the puzzle,” Sharp said. “States on the west coast and east coast would never attempt what we are doing. Under the leadership of Governor Greg Abbott, only Texans – particularly those at the Texas A&M System – have the courage to take on such a weighty and ambitious responsibility.”
The submission of the letter of intent to NRC marks the beginning of a licensing process for the A&M System. Reactor companies will benefit from the A&M System taking on the licensing burden. The result will be a shorter path to getting their reactors up and running.
The Texas A&M System recently concluded the process of gathering proposals from nuclear reactor companies that hope to construct reactors at the planned test bed. Some of the businesses that submitted proposals already have announced partnerships with large technology companies to power their ventures with nuclear energy. Negotiations are expected to begin soon. Also, there might be additional opportunities for organisations to take advantage of the A&M System’s site for nuclear testing and the manufacture of SMRs.
After negotiations are complete, the A&M System will announce which companies will conduct testing and other work at Texas A&M-RELLIS.
The Texas A&M System, along with Texas A&M University, is uniquely qualified to take on a venture as ambitious as building, testing and running nuclear reactors. The System’s campus in College Station – just a few miles from the testbed – employs dozens of professors and researchers with nuclear expertise. In addition, Texas A&M University is home to the largest nuclear engineering department of any university in the country. The A&M System also helps manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pantex, the primary US plant for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons.
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the US, with a budget of $7.3bn. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, a comprehensive health science centre, eight state agencies, and the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus, the Texas A&M System educates more than 157,000 students and makes more than 21m additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceed $1bn and help to support the state’s economy.
