"Industrial giant Dow and X-Energy Reactor Company have submitted a construction licence application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the proposed advanced nuclear project at Dow's Seadrift site in Texas.

Dow's proposed advanced small modular reactor (SMR) project - announced in May 2023 - is being developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Long Mott Energy LLC. The project is focused on providing Dow's Union Carbide Corporation Seadrift Operations manufacturing site with safe, reliable, and clean power and industrial steam replacing existing energy and steam assets that are near end-of-life. The project is supported by the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme, which is designed to accelerate the deployment of advanced reactors through cost-shared partnerships with US industry.

Since 2018, X-energy, and subsequently Dow, have worked with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) through extensive pre-application engagements to demonstrate the safety profile of the Xe-100 advanced SMR through its advanced fuel design, passive safety features, and state-of-the-art analysis techniques.

"This has culminated in a comprehensive application submittal that exceeds NRC regulations for the protection of public health and safety, as well as the environment, with substantial safety features," the partners said in a joint statement.

Once the permit is received - which could take up to 30 months - and upon Dow confirming the ability to deliver the project while achieving its financial return targets, construction could begin, they said.

"This is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the US," said Edward Stones, business vice president, Energy and Climate, Dow. "We look forward to engaging with the NRC, DOE, our business partners and the community throughout the application process."

"The construction permit application is a critical step to deliver on the vision of Congress and DOE to position the US at the forefront of commercialising advanced reactor technology," said X-energy CEO Clay Sell. "Together with our world-class partner, Dow, we will demonstrate how the technology deployed at Seadrift, Texas, can be quickly and efficiently replicated to meet incredible power demand growth across America."

Once complete, Long Mott Generating Station is expected to be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America.

Each Xe-100 high-temperature gas reactor is engineered to operate as a single 80 MW electric unit, optimised as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MWe, on a roughly 30-acre site. The reactor can provide baseload power to an electricity system or support industrial applications with 200 MW thermal output per unit of high-pressure, high-temperature steam.

According to Dow, its Seadrift site covers 4700 acres and manufactures more than 4,000,000 pounds (1816 tonnes) of materials per year for use in applications such as food packaging, footwear, wire and cable insulation, solar cell membranes and packaging for pharmaceutical products. Around 1000 people work at the site. The companies believe that the project will reduce the Seadrift site's emissions by about 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

Dow was one of several tech giants and other major energy users that last month signed a pledge supporting the goal of at least tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. The announcement, at CERAWeek 2025 in Houston, Texas, in the USA, of the Large Energy Users Pledge, followed earlier pledges by 31 countries, by 140 nuclear industry companies and 14 major global banks and financial institutions to support the tripling goal.

X-energy was selected by the DOE in 2020 to develop, license, and build an operational Xe-100 advanced SMR and TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility. Since that award, X-energy has completed the engineering and preliminary design of the nuclear reactor, has begun development and licensing of a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and has secured about USD1.1 billion in private capital to commercialise its technology."

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https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/application-lodged-for-construction-of-texas-smr-plant

"The Norwegian government has issued Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning with a licence to own and operate the nuclear fuel and materials testing reactor at Halden, which it will decommission. Until now, the reactor has been owned and operated by the Institute of Energy Technology.

Established as an agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries in February 2018, Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND) is responsible for decommissioning the research reactors and other related nuclear infrastructure, as well as the safe handling, storage and disposal of radioactive waste.

NND submitted an application in December 2022 for a licence to own and operate the two Norwegian nuclear facilities in Halden and Kjeller, as well as the operation of the waste landfill for low- and intermediate-level radioactive material in Himdalen. The current licence holder is the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE).

Norway's two research reactors - the nuclear fuel and materials testing reactor at Halden and the JEEP-II neutron scattering facility at Kjeller - were declared permanently shut down by IFE in June 2018 and April 2019, respectively.

The transfer of the licence for Halden from IFE to NND was approved earlier this month by the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority.

The government has now granted the licence, which is valid from 1 April for an unlimited period, "but with the possibility of revocation".

"The licence includes the right to own, store, process, transport, possess and place nuclear material," the government noted. "The licence also includes the right to trade nuclear material, but only to the extent necessary to return irradiated fuel to the client or owner in accordance with return agreements previously entered into by IFE or that will be entered into by NND in the future. The licence does not include the right to export nuclear material out of the country ... If it becomes relevant at a later date, NND may apply for a permit for this."

The Halden reactor - which started up in 1959 - ran at a maximum power of 25 MWt and contained numerous test positions, thus providing flexible test conditions. The project was a joint undertaking of national organisations in 19 countries sponsoring a jointly financed programme under the auspices of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. The programme was financed by the participating countries and was renewed every three years. As the host country, Norway covered about 30% of the programme cost. In June 2018, IFE announced it would not apply to extend the reactor's operating licence, which expired in 2020, and the reactor, which was offline due to a safety valve failure, would not be restarted.

"This is a historic day," said NND Director Pål Mikkelsen. "Today we celebrate that we have reached an important milestone. At the same time, the work has just begun, and we have many exciting tasks ahead of us.

"Both NND and IFE will independently ensure the safety of their respective facilities. At the same time, we will continue our close and good cooperation. Partly to help each other in general, but also to facilitate a successful transfer of nuclear facilities in Lillestrøm and in Aurskog-Høland when the time comes."

NND said that since 2018 it has been "working on planning, licensing applications and preparing its own organisation to take over responsibility for Norway's historic nuclear facilities. Today's decision is the first part of the state taking over responsibility for all facilities associated with Norway's historic nuclear research programme"."

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https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/transfer-of-halden-licence-completed