The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted an application from TRISO-X LLC (“TRISO-X”), a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”), for the first-ever fuel fabrication facility focusing on the use of high-assay low-enriched uranium (“HALEU”). The NRC’s decision to review TRISO-X’s application is an important step in bringing North America’s first commercial-scale advanced nuclear fuel facility, which will be located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
“The NRC’s acceptance of our application is a major milestone toward bringing this first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear fuel facility online,” said X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell.
X-energy announced on December 6 plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with Ares Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: AAC) (“AAC”). Upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023, the combined company will be named X-Energy, Inc. and its common equity securities and warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE.
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“The NRC’s acceptance of our application is a major milestone toward bringing this first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear fuel facility online,” said X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell. “When complete, X-energy and TRISO-X seek to lead the commercial development of this safe, innovative fuel technology and it will be among the first advanced nuclear fuels demonstrated in a grid-scale next-generation reactor.”
The TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility (“TF3”) is expected to be a significant participant in future advanced reactor deployment in the 2020s, creating more than 400 jobs in eastern Tennessee. In a letter to TRISO-X, the NRC said that the agency had “determined that the application provides sufficient information to proceed with a detailed technical review” and further “established a 30-month review schedule to be completed by June 2025.”
Tri-structural isotropic (“TRISO”) particle fuel is considered “the most robust nuclear fuel on the planet,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”), because it can withstand very high temperatures without melting, which is key to its safety. X-energy manufactures its own proprietary version of TRISO—TRISO-X—to ensure supply, improve quality, and reduce costs.
SOURCE: Businesswire