US Approves New Kind of Nuclear Reactor for First Time in 50 Years - Bloomberg
US Approves New Kind of Nuclear Reactor for First Time in 50 Years - Bloomberg
US Approves New Kind of Nuclear Reactor for First Time in 50 Years
- US hasn’t authorized a new kind of reactor in half a century
- Kairos’s scalable technology uses molten salt as coolant
An artist rendering of the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor. Source: Kairos Power
For the first time in more than 50 years the US granted permission for a new type of nuclear reactor, a sign regulators are becoming more open to different approaches to producing power from splitting the atom.
California startup Kairos Power LLC received a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build its Hermes demonstration reactor in Tennessee. While commercial reactors in use today are cooled by water, the Kairos technology uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant.
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US Approves New Kind of Nuclear Reactor for First Time in 50 Years
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.