The U.S. Department of Energy has committed another $1 billion to X-energy, an Amazon-backed startup developing a high-temperature gas reactor. Combined with an earlier $1.2 billion award, the federal government is now backing the company's Seadrift, Texas, project at a level rivaling any other advanced nuclear effort in the country. The funding comes through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which uses 50-50 cost-sharing agreements to push next-generation designs toward commercialization.
X-energy's Xe-100 reactor uses graphite and helium instead of water, and runs on TRISO fuel designed to withstand extreme heat. That makes it suited to supply both power and industrial heat to Dow's petrochemical plant, replacing aging steam and power assets and cutting the facility's emissions by roughly 440,000 metric tons per year. The company expects to open its first fuel fabrication facility in Tennessee by 2028, but still needs an NRC construction permit, which it hopes to receive in early 2027.
Cost remains a key uncertainty. X-energy estimated the full project scope at $4.75–5.75 billion in early 2023 and has not publicly updated that figure, though it cites inflationary and trade pressures. CEO J. Clay Sell said on an August earnings call that he expects additional government support if needed. Analysts at Wood Mackenzie say there is no sign yet that final costs will substantially exceed the 2023 estimate, but the project's viability depends on avoiding the budget overruns and delays that have plagued past nuclear efforts.