The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the construction permit application for four Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations site in Texas, X-energy and Dow announced on Monday. The plant, to be built by Dow subsidiary Long Mott Energy as the Long Mott Generating Station under the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, would be the first advanced nuclear facility to power an industrial site in the United States, and the permit is the first the NRC has issued for a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in nearly 60 years. Each Xe-100 unit is designed to generate 80 megawatts of electricity and 200 megawatts of heat, supplying the chemical plant with power and steam for 60 years.
The permit completes the NRC’s safety and environmental reviews and lets the companies work toward construction readiness, but it does not authorize operation and does not commit Dow to build. Dow is expected to consider a preliminary investment decision in 2027, full-scale construction would follow a final investment decision, and first delivery is targeted for the early 2030s. The Union of Concerned Scientists criticized the approval, saying the NRC pushed critical safety questions to a later date to meet its timeline.