X-energy gets green light to build its first small modular nuclear reactors

Nuclear startup X-energy announced Monday that it had been given the go-ahead from federal officials to build its first four commercial reactors. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the construction permit application for four of X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors at a Dow chemical plant in Texas. Each reactor will be capable of generating 80 megawatts of electricity and 200 megawatts of heat. X-energy says the approval is the first for an advanced nuclear reactor at an industrial site in the United States. The U.S. nuclear industry has pinned its hopes on small modular reactors — or SMRs — like those being developed by X-energy. By shrinking the reactor, proponents say it will speed construction and reduce costs, though those advantages have yet to be proven. No SMR is currently in operation in the U.S., and X-energy says Dow’s reactors won’t be operational until the early 2030s. X-energy claims that its reactor design, which flows helium gas over uranium-containing fuel pellets, is safer than many existing reactors, but the Union of Concerned Scientists questioned the claim and the speed with which X-energy received the permit. “The NRC only accomplished this feat by pushing consideration of critical safety questions to a later date—issues the NRC should’ve fully resolved before green lighting construction,” Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the organization, said in a statement. The nuclear industry has benefitted from strong interest from hyperscalers and data center developers, who are desperate for any and all sources of electricity. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led X-energy’s $500 million Series C-1 , and the big tech company has also committed to buying 5 gigawatts of capacity from the nuclear startup. X-energy rode that wave of excitement earlier this year when its April initial public offering raised $1 billion. But since then, investors’ optimism has tempered. The hesitancy isn’t surprising: Nuclear power plants are expensive to build and can take years to complete. Eventually, X-energy hopes to rein in both time and cost, but its first reactors are likely to be pricey. The new permit approval gave X-energy a small jolt yesterday, though it was only enough to recover last week’s losses. The company’s shares are trading at less than half their initial offering price. Topics Climate , nuclear power , X-Energy When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission . This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Tim De Chant Senior Reporter, Climate Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College. You can contact or verify outreach from Tim by emailing [email protected] . View Bio 2027 San Francisco Get an Early Peek at the Next TechCrunch Disrupt Disrupt, Startup Battlefield, and more will return next year, and you can be at the front of the line. Sign up for our waitlist Register Now Most Popular Jensen Huang’s alleged honeypot scandal has inspired some top-notch memes Dominic-Madori Davis Lucas Ropek Musk says Tesla will refund some Cybertruck deposits, defends decision to end production Kirsten Korosec Tesla will stop making the Cybertruck in 2027 Sean O'Kane Claude can now analyze your spending with its new Personal Finance tool Aisha Malik Harbinger raises $240M after expanding into defense Sean O'Kane Almost no one uses AI agents to book their Uber, company says Sarah Perez Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor Lucas Ropek