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Eastern Washington won’t get 1st advanced nuclear reactor in U.S.

By Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Published: March 6, 2023, 5:58pm

KENNEWICK — The Tri-Cities area is no longer in the running to have the nation’s first commercial advanced nuclear power reactor.

But that doesn’t mean the technology won’t be coming to a site near the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington by the end of the decade.

On Wednesday, X-energy Reactor Co. announced that it had signed a joint development agreement with Dow to demonstrate the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor for an industrial site in North America.

Dow said it would work with X-energy to install an Xe-100 high temperature, gas cooled reactor plant at one of Dow’s U.S. Gulf Coast sites. A location is expected to be picked this year.

X-energy had announced in April 2021 that it would work with Energy Northwest of Richland and Grant County PUD to develop, build and operate an 80-megawatt reactor, the Xe-100, on land already leased by Energy Northwest at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington.

It was proposed as the first in the nation.

But Energy Northwest, which provides electricity at cost to public power utilities, does not have the deep pockets to come up with significant development capital available to start the project.

But working collaboratively with DOW will put it in a strong position to gain the commitments needed to take the next steps to build an Xe-100 near the Tri-Cities, Energy Northwest said in a statement.

“We remain committed to deploying an advanced SMR (small modular reactor) in Washington state,” said Bob Schuetz, chief executive of Energy Northwest, after the Dow announcement Wednesday.

X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor remains Energy Northwest’s preferred small modular reactor technology, he said.

“Dow’s selection of the Xe-100 confirms what our own analysis found — X-energy’s innovative technology will be a vital tool in our clean energy transition,” Schuetz said.

The Xe-100 is an 80 megawatt reactor under development that could be scaled up in groups of four to make a 320 megawatt power plant or larger as needed.

It uses off-the shelf components that can be manufactured offsite and then shipped by road and rail to where it would be built and operated.

X-energy says it has a simple design for the reactor with meltdown-proof “walk-away” safety.

Energy Northwest’s collaboration with X-energy over the past two years gives it increased confidence in X-energy’s technology and the ability to deploy an Xe-100 in Washington, Energy Northwest said in a statement.

Energy Northwest continues to work toward deploying an advanced reactor by the end of the decade, Schuetz said.

Now Energy Northwest operates the only commercial nuclear power reactor in the Northwest, the Columbia Generating Station on leased land at the Hanford site north of Richland. It has a 1,207 megawatt capacity.

As Energy Northwest works toward adding a small modular reactor, its focus remains on securing project financing, and it has identified some possible pathways, it said.

“Our state’s clean energy mandates are driving the need for firm, dispatchable, carbon-free electricity and the Xe-100 could be an ideal fit for our region, as well as a valuable addition to Energy Northwest’s existing portfolio of zero-emitting energy resources,” Schuetz said.

In addition to the Columbia Generating Station, Energy Northwest owns and operates hydroelectric, solar, battery storage and wind projects.

Dow plans to have an Xe-100 reactor plant operating on the Gulf Coast within this decade, it said.

Its agreement with X-energy calls for up to $50 million in engineering work, half of which is eligible to be funded by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and the other half to be funded by Dow.

X-energy was picked by DOE in 2020 to receive up to $1.2 billion under the DOE program in federal cost-shared funding to develop, license, build and demonstrated an advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade.

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