West Palm Beach, Fla.-based ONE Nuclear Energy said Tuesday it began the environmental evaluation process for its small modular reactor plans, Project Amberjack, in Louisiana.
ONE Nuclear, a developer of natural gas and advanced nuclear technologies, said in its press release Project Amberjack would be a multi-unit SMR campus that could produce up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity. The SMR campus announcement comes a week after the company unveiled plans to build a separate 2.88-gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Louisiana.
The company has yet to select an SMR technology that it plans to build on the proposed campus, but it said it has already completed preliminary development work for the project. It completed initial nuclear siting analyses and developed conceptual layouts for its nuclear energy campus.
In the next phase of preparation, ONE Nuclear said it will perform environmental field studies, SMR technology screening, transmission and interconnection analysis. The legwork should help to “meet the requirements of a fully licensable site and prepare for engagement with the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] and other agencies,” the company said.
“Following our recent Project Cayman announcement, securing the Amberjack site reinforces our commitment to advancing scalable energy projects within our wider Louisiana Platform, in a state that is actively positioning itself to lead America’s nuclear renaissance,” Chris Hansmeyer, chief development officer at ONE Nuclear, said.
ONE Nuclear is a private startup company that is currently developing projects in several states, including New Mexico, Texas and Washington state. It said its strategy is to bring natural gas-fired generation onto the grid first and then transition and install SMR down the line.