The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received the first part of Blue Energy’s construction permit application to build a BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Texas, NRC said last week.
According to NRC’s Oct. 8 Federal Register notice, Blue Energy filed the application on Sept. 15, with a limited work authorization to perform certain early construction work at the site in Victoria, Texas. The company told NRC it plans to submit the second part of its application within 18 months, according to the notice.
NRC said it will review if the construction permit application is ready for docketing, then it will begin its technical review.
Blue Energy, founded in 2023, is planning to construct a gas-to-nuclear power plant with GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 SMR, a boiling water reactor that is designed to generate 300 megawatts of electricity. The company will also use GE Vernova’s 7HA.02 natural gas turbines at the Port of Victoria site.
Blue Energy selected the reactor technology in May and submitted the first stage of its construction permit application five months later. The company plans to build up to five BWRX-300 SMRs at the site.
Whether Blue Energy will deploy both of GE Vernova’s gas and nuclear technologies will be subject to a final investment decision in 2027, Blue Energy said in a Sept. 15 press release.
“This is another huge step towards building the world’s first gas-to-nuclear power plant and proving the Blue Energy approach to build nuclear in the safest, quickest, and most scalable way possible,” said Jake Jurewicz, CEO and co-founder of Blue Energy. “We look forward to completing the licensing process so we can build this groundbreaking gas-to-nuclear plant and demonstrate the world’s first project financed nuclear power product.”