NRC Sets 18-Month Timeline to Review Dow's SMR Nuclear Plant Application

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission could decide in the next year whether chemical giant Dow can empower partners to start building a small modular reactor nuclear plant in south Texas before the end of the 2020s.

A subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Co., Long Mott Energy LLC, is the developer that filed for a construction permit to build the SMR nuclear facility to eventually power Dow’s Seadrift manufacturing operations along the Texas coast with the Gulf of Mexico.

Dow is working with reactor designer X-energy on the planned 320-MW carbon-free power project which would replace a gas-fired power plant currently energizing manufacturing operation.

Earlier this month, the federal NRC announced an 18-month timeline for reviewing the construction permit application filed by Long Mott in May. The construction permit, even if approved, would allow Long Mott to begin building the project but it still would need future operations permit licensing before commercializing its generation.

“The published review schedule marks the next step in demonstrating how the technology we will be deploying with Dow can be efficiently replicated to meet rising power demand,” said X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell, in a press statement. “X-energy is proud to be a market leader in commercializing advanced nuclear, and the LME team looks forward to continuing to work closely with the NRC throughout this process to complete a robust and thorough review.”

The U.S. has yet to build or operate an SMR nuclear site, but momentum is building around the need for sustainable and dependable baseload power to meet future data center, artificial intelligence modeling and industrial electrification growth. Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Meta have announced agreements to procure conventional nuclear power capacity, while Google and others are signing future deals on eventual SMR plants.

Dow’s Long Mott-Seadrift project, once operational, could cut Seadrift’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 440,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, according to estimates.

X-energy’s Xe-100 design is a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor model driven by TRISO-X fuel. The plan for high-temperature steam and heat is designed for optimal industrial application.

“Our objective is to set a new standard for deploying nuclear at scale, reducing risk and uncertainty for our commercial partners, and demonstrating a stable, well-defined path forward to strengthen and accelerate U.S. energy dominance,” X-energy CEO Sell added.

Last week, the NRC posted an announcement on its website providing the opportunity to request a hearing on the Long Mott Energy construction permit application. Petitions by entities with an interest in the project, positive or negative, must be filed by August 11 if that party wants to intervene in the hearing.

SMR nuclear will likely prove expensive and face opposition on safety grounds as it proceeds, although proponents say the U.S. must add more nuclear capacity to meet dozens of gigawatts in new demand and do so without significant additional carbon emissions. Supporters also acknowledge that SMR won’t be cheap but should prove less invasive and expensive than a conventional reactor addition such as Southern Co.’s $35 billion Vogtle expansion.

Dow Chemical is willing to take the chance and sees a long-term resiliency and sustainability value proposition in using advanced nuclear dedicated to powering manufacturing.

“The purpose of and need for the proposed action is to demonstrate the Xe-100 advanced reactor (in support of the DOE ‘s ARDP) and to replace the existing natural gas-fired cogeneration plant at the SDO (Seadrift) site with a non-carbon emitting generating plant (consistent with Dow's corporate decarbonization goals) that meets Texas regulatory requirements and is capable of producing approximately 320 megawatt electric (MWe) of power or 800 megawatt thermal (MW thermal) of steam with high reliability and a high-capacity factor with intra-hour flexibility,” reads the Dow-Long Mott permit application to the NRC earlier this year.

The federal NRC review will include a preliminary safety analysis and environmental reports for the proposed four-unit facility generating about 80 MW per unit. The combined heat and power also will enhance Dow Chemical’s efficiency plantwide, the NRC permit application noted.

Each of the X-energy reactors would use helium to cool the core. The TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility is being developed in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

X-energy’s design was first selected by Dow in 2020. Dow’s Seadrift site spans over 4,700 acres and manufactures more than four million pounds of packaging and consumer good materials per year.

Most SMR designers and customers hope that the first projects can begin construction before 2030 and be completed and operational early in the next decade.

Prospects for a Small, Modular and Reactive Future

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