US nuclear fuel plant with 5-metric-ton uranium capacity moves closer to operations

X-energy has completed the main structure of a new U.S. facility designed to manufacture advanced nuclear fuel for small modular reactors, moving the project toward equipment installation and commercial production.

The 214,000-square-foot TX-1 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is being developed by TRISO-X, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy. The company said completing vertical construction clears the way for interior work, installation of fuel fabrication equipment and construction of supporting facilities.

Once operational, TX-1 is expected to manufacture about 700,000 TRISO fuel pebbles each year, using roughly 5 metric tons of uranium. That output would be enough to supply as many as 11 of X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced reactors.

The project is expected to become the first new commercial-scale advanced nuclear fuel fabrication facility built in the U.S. in more than 50 years. Earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the plant a 40-year Special Nuclear Material License, which X-energy says is the first NRC Category 2 fuel fabrication license for processing high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU.

Fuel plant takes shape

“Completing vertical construction is a major milestone for TX-1 and another tangible demonstration of the progress our team is making in Oak Ridge,” said Joel Duling, president of TRISO-X.

“We are moving from constructing the core and shell of the facility to building out the interior utilities, installing manufacturing equipment, and constructing key support capabilities.”

Clark Construction Group is handling construction and will now focus on the process equipment and administration building, fuel manufacturing equipment and an adjacent graphite matrix powder building.

TRISO, or tristructural isotropic fuel, consists of tiny uranium fuel particles surrounded by multiple layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials. These coatings are designed to contain fission products and allow the fuel to tolerate temperatures considerably higher than conventional nuclear fuel.

X-energy’s Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled small modular reactor designed around TRISO fuel. Each reactor module is designed to produce 80 megawatts of electricity, with four modules forming a standard 320-megawatt plant.

Reactors drive fuel demand

TX-1 is initially intended to supply fuel for X-energy’s planned Xe-100 deployment at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site in Texas. The project is being advanced through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The company is also pursuing Xe-100 projects with Energy Northwest, Amazon and Centrica, creating a potential future market for fuel produced at the Oak Ridge facility.

TRISO-X has meanwhile expanded its Oak Ridge nuclearfuel campus by about 70 acres and extended its research partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It has also started construction of TX-L, a separate research and development facility.

Finishing the building’s main structure does not mean TX-1 is ready to manufacture fuel. The company must now complete its interior systems, install and commission specialized production equipment and prepare the facility for commercial operations.

For X-energy, bringing TX-1 online would establish a domestic manufacturing source for the specialized fuel needed to support deployment of its planned Xe-100 reactor fleet.

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/x-energy-tx1-triso-nuclear-fuel-facility