OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) – Another milestone has come for the next-generation nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the construction permit for Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 Demonstration Plant.
The facility will be built at the Heritage Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, near the site of the first Hermes reactor under construction. Hermes 2 is the first Gen IV power plant to be approved for construction in the United States, according to a company release. The facility will include two test reactors, which will use molten salt to cool the reactor cores, and a distributed power generation system, the NRC explained.
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“The Commission’s approval of the construction permit for Hermes 2 marks an important step in bringing clean energy from advanced sources to support decarbonization,” said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder. “We are proud to lead the industry in providing advanced licensing and look forward to continuing to collaborate with the NRC as we chart the way forward with future applications.”
“While keeping safety at the forefront, the approval process has been very efficient, and we have issued this approval in less than 18 months,” said NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson. “This shows that we can quickly use the relevant conclusions from the first analysis to arrive at decisions on new interventions.”
The first Hermes reactor began construction on the site of the former K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Process building in July. Kairos said it will apply what it learned from the first reactor to Hermes 2. The first reactor was the first Generation 4 reactor in the US to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction approval.
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While Hermes 1 is a scaled-down version of Karios’s fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor, Hermes 2 “will feature a complete set of plant facilities at a reduced scale and provide clean electricity to the grid,” according to the release. The site is designed to gather valuable information that will help develop a commercial-scale power generation solution.
Before the facility becomes operational, Kairos Power will need to apply for an operating license for Hermes 2, which will need to be approved by the NRC.
Kairos Power is a nuclear technology company that develops its own clean, carbon-free, safe, and affordable source of energy. They specialize in fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactors.
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