The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the construction of the first-ever molten-salt reactor that will power the grid in the US.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given its approval to the construction of America's first molten salt reactor. The approval was granted to Kairos Power, which is currently building the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor at the Heritage Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Kairos Power was given the approval to build the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration reactor at Heritage Center Industrial Park, Oak Ridge Tennessee.
As the world looks for carbon-free approaches to meeting its energy demands, nuclear fission technology is poised for a comeback. Nuclear fission is set to make a return as the world seeks carbon-free ways of meeting energy needs. Even before the 2011 Fukushima disaster, work was underway to improve the safety features of nuclear reactors.
Before the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, work had been underway to enhance the safety of reactors.
Generation IV nuclear power is the umbrella term for nuclear fission technology, which is designed to avert the leak of radioactive material even in extreme scenarios such as earthquakes and generates energy with much higher fuel efficiency.
Generation IV is a term that refers to nuclear fission, a technology designed to prevent the release of radioactive materials even under extreme conditions such as an earthquake. It also produces energy at incredibly high fuel efficiency.
Molten-salt reactors are one of the many different approaches that scientists are using to achieve Gen IV nuclear power. Scientists use a variety of approaches to reach Gen IV. Here, the nuclear fuel is either mixed in molten salt or embedded in graphite, while the molten salt is used as a coolant, and the operation proceeds at high temperatures.
The nuclear fuel can be either embedded in graphite or mixed with molten sodium. Kairos Power uses the latter approach for its Hermes reactors.
Tennessee-based Kairos Power's nuclear plant design features a graphite-moderated pebble-bed reactor with fluoride salt as its coolant. The nuclear reactor design of Tennessee's Kairos Power features a graphite moderated pebble bed reactor, with salt fluoride as the coolant. It uses tri-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuel, which is "randomly packed" in pebble form inside the reactor.
The reactor uses tristructural ISOtropic fuel (TRISO), which is randomly packed in the form of pebbles. The reactor has a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment of nearly 20 percent.
It has an enrichment level of almost 20 percent for high-assay, low-enriched (HALEU).
Founded in 2016, Kairos Power uses a rapid iterative development approach. Kairos Power was founded in 2016 and uses an iterative rapid development method. It uses iterative hardware demonstrations to clear regulatory hurdles and develop in-house manufacturing capability to de-risk its technology and supply chain.
The company uses hardware demos iteratively to overcome regulatory obstacles and to develop its own manufacturing capabilities to reduce the risk of technology and supply chains.
As part of its iterative process, the company has built Engineering Test Units (ETUs) at its Albuquerque and Oak Ridge facilities.
In order to implement its iterative processes, the company built Engineering Test Units at both its Oak Ridge and Albuquerque facilities. Under controlled conditions, these units use non-nuclear tests to validate their critical system components, such as coolant flow and heat transfer rates.
These units are tested under controlled conditions using non-nuclear methods to verify their system components such as heat transfer and coolant flow rates.
The next step in the company's development approach is building the Hermes reactors. Hermes is the next stage in developing the Hermes reactors.
In December 2023, Kairos Power received the NRC nod for building the Hermes Low-power Demonstration Reactor (Hermes 1), the first Gen IV reactor to receive construction approval in the US.
Kairos Power will receive the NRC approval for the construction of the Hermes Low Power Demonstration Reactor in December 2023. This is the first Gen IV nuclear reactor that has received US construction approval. This non-power reactor will be built only to demonstrate system integration and operational safety.
The non-power reactor is only being built to show system integration and safety.
With the recent approval, the NRC has given Kairos the go-ahead to build a power plant that will eventually supply power to the grid.
The NRC recently gave Kairos approval to construct a power station that will ultimately supply electricity to the grid. Dubbed Hermes 2, the power plant will be sited next to Hermes 1 and will feature two 35-MWth reactors with a combined generation capacity of 20 MWe.
The power plant, dubbed Hermes 2 will be located next to Hermes 1 with two reactors of 35 MWth and a total generation capacity 20 MWe. Hermes 2 will replicate complete plant architecture at a reduced scale while supplying carbon-free energy to the grid.
Hermes 2, a replica of the complete plant at a smaller scale, will provide carbon-free electricity to the grid.
Not only has Kairos succeeded in getting approvals from the NRC for Hermes 2, but it has also achieved this in 16 months.
Kairos has been able to get approvals for Hermes 2 from the NRC in just 16 months. The company attributes this to extensive pre-application engagement with the NRC dating back to 2018.
This is attributed to the company's extensive engagement with NRC since 2018.
The NRC is also looking to simply its regulatory approvals for future projects.
NRC also wants to simplify its approval process for future projects. "While keeping safety at the forefront, the permitting process was quite efficient, and we issued these permits in less than 18 months," said Christopher Hanson, NRC Chair, in a press release.
In a recent press release, NRC chair Christopher Hanson said that the process of obtaining permits was efficient and safe. We issued the permits within 18 months.