After completing X-energy’s environmental review in late October, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the advanced reactor company a construction permit for its four small modular reactor (SMR) project in Texas.
This licensing action marks the first time in over 50 years a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor has won a construction permit, according to X-energy’s Monday press release. This is also the third advanced reactor to receive a permit from the NRC this year, with TerraPower getting one in March and the Tennessee Valley Authority in September.
X-energy hopes to have the first of its four Xe-100 SMR reactors online by the early 2030s. The SMRs are fueled by tri-structural – or – TRISO fuel. The project is planned in Seadrift, Texas. It marks the first approved nuclear facility for an industrial site.
The project’s construction permit application was filed by Dow’s subsidiary Long Mott Energy in March 2025. The proposed project will be used to generate power at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operation manufacturing facility, which is powered by natural gas that has end-of-life in the early 2030s.
X-energy’s construction permit application received a streamlined licensing review timeline that would last no more than 18 months after the filing with NRC in June 2025.
“Getting the construction permit earlier than expected is reflective of the thorough and efficient work of the NRC, the reforms that have been put in place by the Congress over the last six years, and the phenomenal work of the X-energy and Dow teams,” X-energy CEO Clay Sell said in the release.
Sell continued, “This milestone is further validation of the XE regulatory approach that can be replicated across our growing commercial pipeline, giving our customers greater confidence in the regulatory process and a clearer path to deployment.”
With the construction permit issued, X-energy and Dow said they will move forward with the project. Dow is expected to weigh a preliminary investment decision next year. Nuclear construction will not begin until Dow makes its final investment decision, X-energy said.
The project is also being supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which promotes development and demonstration of advanced nuclear projects.
