X-energy Reactor Company
Niklas Terki
X-energy is a private American nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company. It is developing a Generation IV high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed nuclear reactor design. It has received funding from private sources and various government grants and contracts, notably through the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Reactor Concept Cooperative Agreement in 2016 and its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) in 2020.
The company was founded in 2009 by Kam Ghaffarian.[1] In January 2016, X-energy was provided a five-year grant of up to $40 million, as part of the DOE's Advanced Reactor Concept Cooperative Agreement to advance elements of their reactor development.[2][3][4] In 2019, X-energy received funding from the United States Department of Defense to develop small military reactors for use at forward bases.[5] Former Deputy Secretary of Energy of the DOE, Clay Sell, was appointed CEO of X-energy in 2019.[6]
In October 2020, the company was chosen by the DOE as a recipient of a matching grant totaling between $400 million and $4 billion over the next 5 to 7 years for the cost of building a demonstration reactor of their Xe-100, helium-cooled pebble-bed reactor design. This is part of the DOE's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which also awarded the same grant to TerraPower.[7]
In 2022 Curtiss-Wright agreed to act as the preferred supplier of 3 critical components of the Xe-100 reactor. The initial installation of the reactor is projected to be for Energy Northwest in Washington State.[8]
In December 2022, X-energy planned to go public in a $2 billion deal using the special-purpose acquisition company Ares Acquisition, but this was called off in October 2023 due to the then macroeconomic situation and the effect on the market of the cancellation of the first U.S. SMR deployment project, the Carbon Free Power Project, because of cost increases. The company laid off some staff in November 2023.[10][11] In December 2023, the company raised $235 million of investment in a new funding round from existing investors.[12]
The Xe-100 is a proposed pebble bed high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor design that is planned to be smaller, simpler and safer when compared to conventional nuclear designs. Pebble bed high temperature gas-cooled reactors were first proposed in 1944. Each reactor is planned to generate 200 MWt and approximately 76 MWe. The fuel for the Xe-100 is a spherical fuel element, or pebble, that utilizes the tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle nuclear fuel design, with high-assay LEU (HALEU) uranium fuel enriched to 20%, to allow for longer periods between refueling.[7] X-energy claims that TRISO fuel will make nuclear meltdowns virtually impossible.[citation needed]
The Maryland-based company is currently developing a high-temperature gas reactor that is expected to be operational by 2028 thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) through the newly established Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
The six-year project resulted in X-energy completing the basic design of their Xe-100 reactor under the award and fabricating its first TRISO fuel pebbles using natural uranium at a pilot-scale fuel facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was commissioned as part of the project.
X-energy is one of two U.S. companies moving forward with advanced nuclear demonstration projects supported with BIL funding under ARDP to expand access to clean energy and provide new job opportunities in two Western states.
The company plans to site a four-unit Xe-100 power plant in Washington state, while TerraPower works toward the construction of its Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
Fueling New Reactors
The company's Xe-100 reactor and specialized uranium-based pebble fuel could be available in the market as early as the late 2020s and is one of two designs that secured more than $2.5 billion in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to demonstrate their technology.
The reactor core is made of graphite and filled with 15.5% enriched fuel pebbles. Each pebble (roughly the size of a billiard ball) contains thousands of specially coated Tristructural Isotropic (TRISO) uranium fuel particles that are virtually indestructible.
The TRISO coating creates an airtight seal around the uranium kernel. This helps retain fission products and gases that are produced during operations and would allow the plant to be constructed within 500 meters of factories or urban areas.
The Xe-100 is designed to operate at high temperatures to produce electricity more efficiently. The high-temperature helium gas can also be used in energy-intensive processes that currently rely on fossil fuels, such as hydrogen production and petroleum refining.
X-energy was awarded $80 million in initial funding to demonstrate a four-unit, 320 MWe plant within the next seven years through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Since the TRISO uranium particle is the basis for multiple advanced reactor fuel designs, the TRISO-X Facility could become a key enabler for deployment of the U.S. advanced reactor industry over the next several years.
Learn how we make the world a better place as Team Dow. Through respect and integrity, we lead with our core values and innovative spirit to create more sustainable materials science solutions for everyone.
Team Dow makes us one of the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science companies in the world. Find opportunities to join Dow in a capacity that works best for you.
Working with DOE and subject to its review and approval, Dow and X-energy expect to finalize site selection in 2023. The parties intend to perform further ARDP-related work under the JDA as the project progresses. Additionally, the companies have agreed to develop a framework to jointly license and utilize the technology and learnings from the project, which would enable other industrial customers to effectively utilize Xe-100 industrial low carbon energy technology.
X-energy was selected by DOE in 2020 to receive up to $1.2 billion under the ARDP in federal cost-shared funding to develop, license, build, and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade. Since that award, X-energy has completed the engineering and basic design of the nuclear reactor, advanced development of a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and is preparing to submit an application for licensure to the NRC.
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance leadership to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,800 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $57 billion in 2022. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements often address expected future business and financial performance, financial condition, and other matters, and often contain words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "opportunity," "outlook," "plan," "project," "seek," "should," "strategy," "target," "will," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," "would" and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words or phrases.
Forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond Dow's control, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements and speak only as of the date the statements were made. These factors include, but are not limited to: sales of Dow's products; Dow's expenses, future revenues and profitability; the continuing global and regional economic impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") pandemic and other public health-related risks and events on Dow's business; any sanctions, export restrictions, supply chain disruptions or increased economic uncertainty related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine; capital requirements and need for and availability of financing; unexpected barriers in the development of technology, including with respect to Dow's contemplated capital and operating projects; Dow's ability to realize its commitment to carbon neutrality on the contemplated timeframe; size of the markets for Dow's products and services and ability to compete in such markets; failure to develop and market new products and optimally manage product life cycles; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Dow's products; significant litigation and environmental matters and related contingencies and unexpected expenses; the success of competing technologies that are or may become available; the ability to protect Dow's intellectual property in the United States and abroad; developments related to contemplated restructuring activities and proposed divestitures or acquisitions such as workforce reduction, manufacturing facility and/or asset closure and related exit and disposal activities, and the benefits and costs associated with each of the foregoing; fluctuations in energy and raw material prices; management of process safety and product stewardship; changes in relationships with Dow's significant customers and suppliers; changes in consumer preferences and demand; changes in laws and regulations, political conditions or industry development; global economic and capital markets conditions, such as inflation, market uncertainty, interest and currency exchange rates, and equity and commodity prices; business or supply disruptions; security threats, such as acts of sabotage, terrorism or war, including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine; weather events and natural disasters; and disruptions in Dow's information technology networks and systems; and risks related to Dow's separation from DowDuPont Inc. such as Dow's obligation to indemnify DuPont de Nemours, Inc. and/or Corteva, Inc. for certain liabilities.
c80f0f1006