US-based X-energy announced on 14 March that it had been invited to submit a Part II loan guarantee application by the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO).
X-energy is an advanced reactor design and Tristructural Isotropic (TRISO)-based fuel fabrication company which is developing high temperature gas-cooled pebble bed reactors. The company is producing TRISO-based fuel forms and is implementing pilot scale manufacturing capacities.
The invitation for the Part II application aims to secure funding for the construction of the TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility - a first-of-a-kind cross-cutting US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-licensed high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU)-based fuel facility. X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said: "Our endeavor is for TRISO-X to be the first-to-market supplier of TRISO fuel for the emerging global advanced reactor business. With advanced nuclear we have an opportunity to help improve the world by bringing this revolutionary technology to the marketplace."
The completion of Phase I of the loan guarantee application process and invitation to proceed to Phase II dovetails with the company's two existing DOE Office of Nuclear Energy cooperative agreements. Under the Advanced Reactor Concept project, X-energy demonstrated its TRISO-based fuel fabrication capability using commercial scale equipment at the Oak Ridge National Lab. X-energy's second cooperative agreement focuses on the preliminary and detailed design and licence application development for the TRISO-X Commercial Fuel Fabrication Facility. This is expected to lead to an application to the NRC for a Part 70 licence in 2021. The loan guarantee requested is intended for commercialisation of a TRISO-based fuel supply chain.
The Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program was created under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to address market shortcomings and bridge the clean energy financing gap. It aims to overcome the challenges that innovative nuclear, renewables and fossil projects face in obtaining long-term financing in the commercial marketplace. The DOE has $12.5 billion in loan guarantee authority available for advanced nuclear projects. This includes $2 billion specifically for front-end projects such as the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility. X-energy intends to implement this fuel business as a Joint Venture under the name "TRISO-X, LLC".