Dow, X-Energy file permit application for Texas site

Dow and X-energy Reactor Co. have submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a proposed advanced nuclear project in Seadrift, Texas.

Long Mott Energy, Dow’s subsidiary, submitted the application on Monday. 

Reviewing the application can take up to 30 months, as noted in the Dow and X-Energy press release. If the permit is granted, then the companies expect construction to begin later this decade with the reactors ready to go by early 2030s.

The project would use nuclear power to replace the current energy and steam generation, that is powered by natural gas that has end-of-life in the early 2030s, at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing location. The Seadrift site covers 4,700 acres and produces over 4 billion pounds of materials, ranging from footwear to food packaging to medical products, according to the press release.

In May 2023, Dow and X-Energy selected UCC Seadrift to be the proposed site for an advanced nuclear project.

The venture is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which promotes development and demonstration of advanced nuclear projects.

In 2020, X-Energy was selected by the DOE to build and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and a fuel fabrication facility. X-energy CEO Clay Sell was deputy secretary of energy in the George W. Bush administration.

Dow and X-Energy entered into a joint development agreement in March 2023 to develop and install Xe-100 high temperature gas-cooled reactor plant. A Xe-100 reactor consists of four 80 megawatts electric reactors and can create a total output of 320 megawatts electric.