en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 13, U.S. advanced nuclear technology company X-energy disclosed that the U.S. Department of Energy will add up to $1 billion in public funding through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program for its nuclear project with Dow Inc. in Texas. The Department of Energy confirmed the arrangement to Reuters, noting that the new funding will continue to follow the 50-50 cost-sharing mechanism between the government and the company.
With this additional allocation, the cumulative funding cap from the U.S. government for X-energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program since 2021 will reach approximately $2.15 billion. This amount is provided as phased, milestone-based cost-share funding rather than a one-time disbursement, requiring X-energy and its project partners to contribute matching funds.
The funding will be used to advance the Long Mott power station being developed jointly by X-energy and Dow, as well as the supporting TRISO-X nuclear fuel manufacturing facility. X-energy's current budget execution period under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program has been extended to March 2027, covering reactor design, licensing, commercialization preparation, pre-construction work, and the first commercial nuclear fuel facility, TX-1.
The Long Mott power station is planned for construction at Dow's chemical manufacturing site in Seadrift, Texas, and will be developed by Long Mott Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow. The project plans to deploy four Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled small modular reactors with a combined net generating capacity of 320 megawatts, while also supplying industrial steam to the site to replace aging power and steam infrastructure.
Each Xe-100 reactor can provide 80 megawatts of electricity or 200 megawatts of thermal process heat, with a design service life of 60 years. Dow's Seadrift site produces more than 4 billion pounds of chemical materials annually, used in packaging, cable insulation, photovoltaic module films, and pharmaceutical packaging, among other applications.
Long Mott Energy submitted a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the end of March 2025, which was subsequently formally accepted. The project is currently in the safety and environmental review phase. Following approval of the construction permit, the project will still need to complete subsequent construction and a separate operating license process, with both parties planning to begin operations in the early 2030s.
X-energy has simultaneously expanded investments in the related nuclear supply chain, including signing a long-term agreement for high-assay low-enriched uranium enrichment services and partnering with Germany's SGL Carbon to expand nuclear-grade NBG-18 graphite production capacity. The company disclosed that with the expanded scope of the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, its material procurement, subcontracting services, and prepayments for long-lead items have all increased.
