Up to 12 Xe-100 Small Modular Nuclear Reactors planned for Washington State. [View all]

[NNadir]

Multiple Xe-100 SMRs planned for Washington State

A joint development agreement (JDA) has been signed between US utility Energy Northwest and X-Energy Reactor Company for the deployment of up to 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors (SMRs) in central Washington State. Energy Northwest expects to bring the first Xe-100 module online by 2030.

The agreement defines and details the scope, location, and schedule under which the commercial development of the project will move forward. The companies will also work together to determine the best approaches to licensing and regulatory matters, as well as the project delivery model.

Energy Northwest owns the Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, which is the only commercial nuclear power plant in the region. Under the JDA, the Xe-100 project is expected to be developed at a site controlled by Energy Northwest adjacent to the Columbia plant.

The Xe-100 is an 80 MWe (scalable to a 320 MWe four-pack) high-temperature gas cooled reactor which uses TRISO (tristructural isotropic) particle fuel. It can integrate into large, regional electricity systems as a base and load-following source of carbon-free power, and can optimise grid use of low-emission, intermittent renewables and other clean energy resources, X-energy says. It can also support industrial applications with 200 MWt output per unit of high pressure, high temperature steam.

In May, industrial giant Dow selected its UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site in Texas for X-energy's first deployment of the Xe-100 as part of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). X-energy was awarded USD1.2 billion from the DOE in 2021 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. Dow and X-energy plan to submit a construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the aim for construction work to begin in 2026.

The first commercial deployment of the Xe-100 had previously been expected to be a four-unit plant near Energy Northwest's Columbia nuclear power plant in Washington, which has mandated 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045...

I am not overly familiar with this design, but it seems to be a Brayton type system, meaning that the reactors are capable of forming multiple missions beyond the production of electricity. While I doubt the exit temperatures are high enough to drive thermochemical water splitting, this kind of system can certainly drive dry reforming of organic wastes and/or biomass as a means of purely negative carbon capture for use.

The utility in multiple process intensification procedures is supported by Dow's interest in the reactors.

It's good news for slowing climate change.