DOE Signs Agreement to Further Develop X-energy’s Microreactor for Commercial Applications

Source: www.gulfoilandgas.com 10/25/2023, Location: North America

-X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy” or “the Company”), a leading developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, and the U.S. Department of Energy (the “DOE”) have signed a cooperative agreement through 2024 to further advance the development of a mobile microreactor design. The agreement, awarded through the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, supports X-energy’s continuing work on architecture and key technologies for the preliminary design of the Company’s transportable nuclear power plant. The X-energy microreactor is expected to produce three to five megawatts of electricity at a commercially competitive price. The award demonstrates the DOE’s continued support of X-energy and its operations.

“We are grateful for the DOE’s continued support and plan to use this latest award, totaling approximately $2.5 million, to continue advancing our mobile microreactor beyond technical feasibility to commercial reality,” said Georgette Alexander-Morrison, X-energy’s Vice-President of Government Programs. “This DOE award underscores our role as a leading microreactor developer. We intend to build on our expertise in next-generation nuclear reactor and fuel design, transportable nuclear systems, and small nuclear solutions for space to create a clean and practical microreactor to be competitive with fossil fuel-based power generation used today for commercial and government agency applications.”

In 2020, the Department of Defense’s (the “DOD”) Strategic Capabilities Office selected X-energy, as part of its Project Pele initiative, to design a prototype mobile microreactor capable of producing between one and five megawatts of electricity to support mission-critical operations in remote military locations. The DOD recently expanded its agreement with X-energy to develop a cost-effective design for a transportable advanced nuclear microreactor prototype for use in remote military locations or other strategic missions.

X-energy’s teams are working in parallel – through DOE and DOD-funded agreements—on advanced microreactor designs that will make the technology commercially viable in the marketplace.

“We are excited to continue to advance the engineering technology that went into our initial high-performance designs for Project Pele. With the combined support of the DOE and DOD, we are confident that we can reduce costs and deliver a solution that meets the needs of both civilian and military users,” said Dr. Hans Gougar, X-energy’s Lead Microreactor Engineer. “This project brings us closer to deploying emission-free power to replace diesel in hard-to-reach locations, for disaster relief, maritime power delivery, and when critical infrastructure resiliency is threatened.”

The DOE, through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, is also supporting X-energy’s initial deployment of the Xe-100 advanced reactor and the creation of the nation’s first commercial facility to manufacture TRISO-X high-assay low-enriched uranium-based fuel for next-generation reactors. DOE awards under its Advanced Reactor Concepts program helped X-energy complete conceptual and basic design of the Xe-100 reactor and the TRISO-X fuel facility. Funding from the DOE’s ARPA-E program helped develop operational innovations – such as automation, robotics, remote and central maintenance, and diagnostic monitoring – in the Xe-100 nuclear power plant design.


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