Photo courtesy of Kairos Power

A rendering of the Salt Production Facility to be built at Kairos Power’s Manufacturing Development Campus near Albuquerque, N.M.

Kairos Power started construction on a new facility in Albuquerque, N.M., that will produce "Flibe" molten salt coolant for its Hermes reactor, the federal Office of Nuclear Energy announced.

Hermes is one of several projects supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The low-power reactor is being built in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and could be operational as early as 2027.

Hub for Hermes

The new salt production facility will be the latest addition to the Kairos Power Manufacturing Development Campus in Albuquerque.

Construction and operation of the new facility is anticipated to result in an additional 20-30 full-time, high-paying jobs. TIC-The Industrial Co. of Woodlands, Texas, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corp., will serve as the project's general contractor.

Photo courtesy of Kairos Power

Many Hermes components will be fabricated at the site, which includes facilities for component manufacturing, pressure vessel production, modular reactor construction, fuel fabrication process development and non-nuclear prototype testing.

The salt production facility will produce reactor-grade Flibe, which is a chemically stable combination of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride salts, that will be used to cool Hermes' TRISO-fueled pebble bed design and allow it to operate near atmospheric pressure.

Kairos Power plans for the salt production facility to be operational and producing salt in 2026.

"The facilities we are building in Albuquerque will play a pivotal role in deploying Kairos Power's clean energy technology with robust safety at an affordable cost," said Kairos Power CTO and co-founder Ed Blandford. "With the addition of molten salt coolant production, Kairos Power's Manufacturing Development Campus will soon have all the capabilities we need to deliver the Hermes reactor and establish a credible path to scale up production for the commercial fleet."

"Kairos Power continues to make impressive strides towards demonstrating the Hermes reactor," said acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Reactors Brian Smith. "DOE is pleased with the company's progress on its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Risk Reduction project, and we look forward to seeing what Kairos accomplishes next."

DOE is investing up to $303 million to support the design, construction and commissioning of the Hermes project.

What's Next?

Hermes is the first advanced reactor to receive a construction permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Construction on the project started earlier this year in Tennessee and could be completed as soon as 2027.

The company wrapped up molten salt testing on its first, large-scale non-nuclear prototype in July and is working to build a second iteration at the campus to demonstrate the reactor's modular design.

Hermes is being built to inform the final design of Kairos Power's commercial reactor which could be deployed in the next decade.

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