The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans an Oct. 19 hearing on a proposal by Kairos Power to build a demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on land once used for a Department of Energy gaseous diffusion plant.
The hearing at Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) headquarters in Rockville, Md., marks the final phase of the agency’s review of Kairos Power’s application to build a non-power demonstration model of its 35-megawatt Hermes reactor, according to a Sept. 5 NRC press release.
Only last month, NRC issued the final environmental impact statement for the project that would be located on a 185-acre site within the East Tennessee Technology Park. The land was formerly occupied by DOE Buildings K-31 and K-33, which were both part of the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which shut down in 1986, according to the environmental report.
In the years since, DOE has taken down the uranium enrichment buildings and remediated the land for industrial reuse, according to the NRC report.
Construction of Hermes would involve an average of 212 site workers per year over a two-year period, with an estimated peak of 425 workers, according to the environmental impact statement.
Two years ago, California-based Kairos filed its application to build a thermal reactor that would use molten salt to cool the reactor core, according to the NRC press release. The test reactor would be used to gather data for eventual development of larger reactors capable of commercial electric power generation.
The October NRC hearing will be webcast, according to the press release.
