Holtec International, Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and Entergy have agreed to jointly explore building Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
The three companies look to establish a framework to analyze customer demand and potential sites for the SMR-300 reactor, according to Holtec’s Tuesday press release. The SMR-300 is a pressurized water reactor designed with a net generation capacity of 340 megawatts.
Holtec said the SMR projects would consist of dual-unit SMR-300 plants, similar to what it is working on at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan with Pioneer Units 1 and 2.
Entergy and its subsidiaries operate four nuclear power plants, with three being in the gulf south region.
Entergy operates Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Mississippi, River Bend Station in Louisiana and Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station in Louisiana. Additionally, the utility operates Arkansas Nuclear One in Arkansas.
The collaboration, ratified through a non-binding memorandum of agreement, reflects the increasing demand for electricity for advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the Gulf South region, Holtec said.