The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its final environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact for Kairos Power’s application for construction permits to
build the dual unit Hermes 2 test reactor project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Concurrently, the agency issued exemptions for Hermes 2 from NRC regulations that
require an environmental impact statement to support construction permits for test facilities. The
site was previously evaluated with an environmental impact statement for the Hermes 1 test
reactor, which the staff believed was sufficient to support the exemption. The environmental
assessment considered potential impacts of aspects unique to the Hermes 2 project.
The staff will provide the Hermes 2 environmental assessment and its safety evaluation
of the project to the Commission for the final phase of the licensing process. The Commission
will determine if the staff’s review supports the findings necessary to issue the permits and vote
on whether to authorize their issuance.
The proposed Hermes 2 project would be two fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature
reactors. Kairos Power submitted its application for construction permits in July 2023. The
company will need to submit a separate application for Hermes 2 operating licenses in the future.
