The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) accepted Dow’s construction permit application to build X-energy's first small modular reactor plant to power a chemical facility in Seadrift, Texas.
The project is part of a demonstration project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and, if approved, would be the first advanced nuclear facility at an industrial site in the United States.
Dow submitted its application to the NRC in late March to build the Long Mott Generating Station, which includes four Xe-100 reactors at the company’s chemical plant in Southeast Texas.
The application applied new technology-inclusive guidance issued by the NRC to streamline the review process for non-light-water reactor applicants.
The new guidance leverages the industry-led TICAP project to support a more risk-informed review of the safety analysis report. The TICAP effort is a direct result of a larger licensing modernization project supported by DOE in collaboration with industry and NRC.
NRC accepts Dow's construction permit for SMR plant in Texas
Rendering of the Dow plant in Seadrift, Texas.
Courtesy of X-energy
The Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled small modular reactor, powered by specialized TRISO particle fuel. A single reactor can produce 80 megawatts of electric output or 200 megawatts of process heat and is designed to operate for 60 years.
The first units of the Xe-100 will be built in Seadrift, Texas at Dow’s UCC operations manufacturing site and is anticipated to be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to supply power and high-temperature heat to industrial-scale operations.
The new reactors will replace aging power and steam assets on the Seadrift site and support the manufacturing of more than 4 billion pounds of chemical products a year, including plastic packaging, footwear, and pharmaceutical products.
Dow anticipates that construction of the plant could begin within the next five years.
X-energy’s Xe-100 is one of two advanced reactor demonstration projects supported through DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which aims to speed the deployment of new reactor technologies and unleash more affordable, reliable and secure power to the United States.
Both projects are implementing the licensing modernization project methodology.
