Operators peer into the reactor pool where Texas A&M Universitys Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics nuclear research reactor emits a blue glow on March 11, 2024 in College Station.at the University of Texas at Austin last August to discuss building up an energy source in the state. Unlike the oil and gas industry that Abbott often promotes, this fuel could create reliable power without also pumping pollution into the air.
These downsized reactors offer a possible solution, in Abbott’s view, to the woes of the state’s main electric grid. The grid’s vulnerabilities were exposed during a 2021 winter storm when subfreezing temperatures knocked power plants offline; millions of people went without power or heat for days andAfter that disaster, some energy industry experts said part of the state’s problem was that it lacked enough on-demand power — meaning power that can come on anytime.
Small reactors have been around for decades — they have powered submarines since the 1950s, for example — but the new generation of reactors under development are designed to power everything from industrial facilities to oilfield water desalination to the electric grid. They’ll need approval from federal regulators to go into operation.
“These reactors have the potential to revolutionize the way power is generated in this state and provide stable, low-cost power for a long, long time here in Texas,” Glotfelty said.The smaller reactors are the nuclear industry’s solution for building out the power resource at a time when large reactors face challenges that make them difficult to build.
The South Texas Project Electric Generating Station is a nuclear power plant about 90 miles southwest of Houston.Even if a company can get past the strict safety regulation and public fear to build a new mega-reactor, there remains significant financial risk. The projects are big and costly.
Groups such as Beyond Nuclear don’t trust the safety of nuclear power regardless of the size of a reactor. Fort Worth-area residentsthe extension of a federal license for the nearby large reactors because they’re worried about safety. Beyond Nuclear says small reactors will still have waste that has nowhere to be permanently stored.
X-energy’s founder, billionaire Kam Ghaffarian, made his fortune as an engineering contractor for NASA. He learned about a reactor under development in South Africa, and, when the government canceled the project, Ghaffarian hired some of the staff for his new company based in Maryland. The company is exploring using nuclear power to support life on the moon.