Happy Monday! Welcome back to another week of ESC News Blog! We hope you enjoyed your weekend and the nice weather we had. Now let’s get started.
By now you probably realize we
like energy! We wrote in regard to Texas
A&M (TAMU) seeking permission to get a site permit for commercial nuclear
reactors on campus from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last year,
and when they decided to accept applications for their Rellis Campus in Bryan,
Texas for small module reactors (SMRs). (Check out our Blog in November 2024
for details.) Well, a decision on who
to invite to the party has been made!
Did anyone happen to read the Houston
Chronicle’s Front-Page on February 5, 2025, their article titled, “Partners
picked for A&M reactors”? In the
article, it goes on to speak on how the Texas A&M University
System has announced they have decided on four candidates for their
Rellis Campus in Bryan, Texas for their proposed nuclear small modular reactors
(SMRs). SMRs have a smaller footprint then
the 3-mile island reactors of the past, lower cost to build, and they generate
up to 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
The four companies are two Texas companies, one California company, and
one North Carolina company, and they are Natura Resources, Aalo
Atomics, Kairos Power, and Terrestrial Energy. If TAMU
has their commercial reactor site permit license approved, and these four
companies develop a plan which benefits all, then TAMU will be advancing
their goal to be on the frontline of innovation for energy! TAMU is not a stranger to nuclear
energy they have a small research nuclear generator for their nuclear engineering program, and it is
the largest program in the country, thus having SMRs seem to be the next step
for them. Being a leader in innovation, TAMU
has asked for $200 million from the General Fund to start preparing at the
Rellis Campus to support the nuclear reactors sites in its response to help the
state bring innovative nuclear ideas to Texas.
TAMU is helping the state
further its plans of bringing nuclear energy here by developing the Rellis
Campus! The State of Texas has completed
a nuclear energy work group study, and they have decided what needs happen to
bring it here (See our Blog last November for details). The Texas Legislature
should be addressing their suggestion to create the Texas Nuclear Energy and
Supply Chain Fund which proposes to help bring nuclear energy companies to
Texas. This fund like the Texas Energy
Fund would be to help develop more power generation for its growing population
and business infrastructure.
Let’s speak of what the four
companies have currently in the fire, and how TAMU will be helping them display
their tech. Kairos Power is the biggest of the
companies, and they are building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee called, “Hermes Two” and it’s expected to
be up and running by 2027. Karios
Power is considering how many to build at TAMU and their standard
would be a pair of SMRs which would provide 75 MW each. The next company is Texas’ own Natura Resources who last
fall was given a permit to build a pilot reactor at Abilene Christian University. Natura
Resources is considering deploying their commercial reactor at the Rellis Campus
which would have up to 100 MW of power and it would be expected to be completed
in the next five years. Another Texas
company is Aalo Atomics who clients would be data centers, and their reactors
would be tailored to the industry. Currently,
Aalo Atomics is advancing their design and technology of their reactor called,
“Aalo-X”
at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Aalo Atomics is expecting their plan
to include five 10 MW reactors, and for development to take around ten years and
$250 million to have at least one of these facilities at the Rellis Campus to
power local data centers. The last
company is Terrestrial Energy who has been approved by Canada’s Nuclear
Safety Commission in 2023 and its multi-year regulatory review of Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR plant. Terrestrial
Energy has proposed a construction plan of their commercial scale pilot facility
which would have two reactors each having up to 200 MWs and it would be
expected to be complete within a decade. We wish these ambitious visionaries’ luck in
powering the future! We wish TAMU
luck in bringing more power to College Station/Bryan or as we like to fondly
say “Aggieland!” If you would like to
read more of the Houston Chronicle’s article, please click the
link: Texas
A&M picks 4 companies to build nuclear reactors at Rellis campus.
If you would like help in looking
into how to transport your product efficiently, safely, and with less of a
carbon footprint or just find out what is underneath your feet to help with
your emission reduction goals, contact us via email in the Blog and check out
our ESC website!
We hope you have a wonderful evening and a great rest of
your week!
**Disclaimer: You may be charged a fee to read The
Houston Chronicle’s article. **