MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow and X-energy have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop a nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) at one of Dow’s US Gulf Coast sites, said the companies.
Dow, the world’s leading materials science company, and X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”), a leading developer of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, announced today their entry into a joint development agreement (“JDA”) to demonstrate the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor for an industrial site in North America.
As a subawardee under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (“ARDP”) Cooperative Agreement with X-energy, Dow intends to work with X-energy to install their Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (“HTGR”) plant at one of Dow’s U.S. Gulf Coast sites, providing the site with safe, reliable, low-carbon power and steam within this decade. The JDA includes up to USD50 million in engineering work, up to half of which is eligible to be funded through ARDP, and the other half by Dow. The JDA work scope also includes the preparation and submission of a Construction Permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Nuclear SMRs could play an important part in decarbonising the chemical and other industries, and may eventually power electric cracking.
X-energy, based in Rockville, Maryland, is a developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation.
We remind, Dow intends to construct the sector's first net-zero carbon emissions ethylene and derivatives complex with respect to scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, at its Fort Saskatchewan (Alberta, Canada) site. The project involves a new 'net-zero carbon emissions' ethylene cracker at the site, set for launching by 2027. It would expand Dow's ethylene and polyethylene capacity by over 200% from its Fort Saskatchewan site, while retrofitting the site's existing assets to net-zero carbon emissions.
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