The Texas A&M System announced last week that it is offering land on the RELLIS campus outside of Bryan to four companies to build small modular nuclear reactors.
“Plain and simple: the United States needs more power,” Chancellor John Sharp said during the announcement ceremony. “And nowhere in the country, other than Texas, is anyone willing to step up and build the power plants we need. Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott and others in Texas state government, Texas A&M System stands ready to step up and do what is necessary for the country to thrive.”
The chief executive officers of each company — Kairos Power, Natura Resources, Terrestrial Energy and Aalo Atomics — all agreed to build reactors on the technology-focused campus grounds as part of a project titled “The Energy Proving Ground.”
The first reactors could be completed within five years and will supply energy to ERCOT, the state’s independent power supply, according to a press release.
“We are excited about the momentum for new nuclear deployment at Texas A&M-RELLIS and its potential to support U.S. energy security and continued economic growth,” Kairos Power CEO Mike Laufer said. “We look forward to collaborating with the Texas A&M System to advance Kairos Power’s clean energy mission and play a new role in developing the nation’s future nuclear workforce.”
Sharp said Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gave him the idea. Natura Resources CEO Douglass Robison said the System has been an integral partner for five years, as the two collaborated to develop the Natura MSC-1 demonstration system. Terrestrial Energy CEO Simon Irish similarly said he hopes the partnership assists with the company’s Molten Salt Reactor, or IMSR.
“Siting an IMSR plant at the RELLIS campus leverages Texas A&M’s world-class research and nuclear engineering capabilities, provides a source of clean, firm electricity for the local grid and positions Texas as a leader in America’s nuclear technology sector,” Irish said.
Up to six Aalo Pods will result from the System’s partnership with Aalo Atomics, Matt Loszak, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said.
The System has begun the application process for an early site permit with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop commercial electrical and thermal power generation facilities at RELLIS. The projects will ultimately produce one gigawatt of electricity, the same output as almost 300 wind turbines.
“This is the place that is going to be the nuclear renaissance,” Sharp said. “It will prove that nuclear power is part of the mix and part of the answer to our energy problems in this country.”
