In today’s US construction news, read about in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, work has begun on building Hermes, Kairos Power’s 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor. On the other hand, higher mortgage rates and home prices hurt demand, and sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. dropped to their lowest level in seven months in June. This is more proof that the housing market rebound slowed down in the second quarter.
The U.S. Builds Another Fourth-generation Nuclear Reactor
Original Source: Another Fourth-Generation Nuclear Reactor Begins Construction in the U.S.
In Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Kairos Power began building Hermes, a 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor. In June, TerraPower’s sodium-cooled fast reactor demonstration Kemmerer 1 marked an important milestone for the advanced nuclear industry.
Kairos announced on July 30 that Barnard Construction Co. began site work and excavation for the Hermes demonstration at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center (ETTP) in Oak Ridge earlier this month.
Hermes will be Kairos Power’s first nuclear plant when finished in 2027. The Alameda, California-based engineering firm’s “rapid iterative development approach” to creating and marketing nuclear power station designs based on its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology includes the demonstration molten salt reactor.
From ETUs to Hermes: Testing for Commercial Deployment
Kairos expects a KP-FHR commercial reactor in the early 2030s. Kairos’ KP-FHR uses a graphite-moderated, “randomly packed” pebble-bed reactor with molten fluoride salt coolant (2LiF:BeF2 [Flibe] enriched in Li‐7), as described by POWER. The KP-FHR uses tri-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuel in pebble form with a carbonaceous matrix coating to operate at high temperatures and near atmospheric pressure.
Kairos notes that the reactor coolant, a chemically stable, low-pressure molten fluoride salt combination, has a boiling point of 1,430C, lower than 1,600C but functionally very high. In recent NRC testimony, Kairos vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Peter Hastings noted, “The fundamental concept is the combination of [TRISO] particle fuel coupled with a molten fluoride salt coolant.”
The use of high-temperature-tolerant fuel and a chemically stable reactor coolant eliminates potential fuel damage situations, simplifying design and minimizing safety system requirements. The reactor’s low pressure and TRISO fuel’s fission product retention feature improve safety and eliminate the need for leak-resistant containment structures, he stated. The design also uses passive decay heat removal and does not require an emergency core cooling system for decay heat removal or coolant inventory replacement. He added the reactor system (RS), primary heat transport system (PHTS), and decay heat removal system (DHRS) are the main plant systems.
Kairos has made significant progress on a series of non-nuclear, unenriched Flibe-wetted and isothermal integrated tests at its KP-Southwest research and development center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Flibe is also being produced for the ETU program at Materion’s June 2022-commissioned Molten Salt Purification Plant (MSPP) in Elmore, Ohio.
After six months and 2,000 hours of pumped salt operations using 12 metric tons of Flibe, ETU 1.0 began decommissioning on July 1. The company claimed test unit findings will inform Hermes reactor design, construction, and operation and future deployments. It also launched ETU 2.0 in Albuquerque to demonstrate modular construction. On Tuesday, Barnard and Kairos announced the start of ETU 3.0 development.
ETU 3.0 will be built at ETTP in Oak Ridge, where the Hermes demonstration reactor is being built.The engineering test unit “will generate supply chain, construction, and operational experience to inform the Hermes project,” said Kairos. “This iterative approach will allow ETU 3.0 civil construction lessons to transfer seamlessly to the Hermes facility.”
Kairos Power, a privately owned nuclear engineering, design, and manufacturing company “singularly focused” on commercializing its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), is addressing technical and regulatory issues. courtesy Kairos
Hermes’ main goal is to show Kairos Power can produce economical nuclear heat. “Hermes will not produce electricity,” Kairos said. Like the KP-FHR, Hermes, a 35-MWth thermal reactor, will use TRISO with high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) on a pebble bed with molten fluoride salt coolant. Operating data from the test reactor will help create a commercial version.
Kairos is working on Hermes 2, a two-unit demonstration with two 35-MWth test reactors. TRISO-fueled pebbles in Flibe will power Hermes 2, which will generate 20 MWe of electricity via an integrated steam-powered (Rankine Cycle) conversion plant. Kairos says Hermes 2 will “further de-risk technology, construction, supply chain, and licensing for a multi-reactor plant” at Oak Ridge on the same site as the initial Hermes demonstration.
First Non-Water-Cooled Reactor Permits in Decades
Kairos has reached many regulatory milestones through its iterative strategy. Kairos received an NRC construction authorization for its 35-MWth Hermes “non-power” demonstration in December 2023. Hermes was the NRC’s first non-water-cooled reactor licensing in over 50 years. Kairos received Hermes 1 construction permits from the NRC in November 2021. Kairos must wait for an NRC operating license before operating the Hermes demonstration to comply with the two-step 10 CFR Part 50 licensing process.
In June 2023, the NRC accepted a construction permit application (CPA) for Hermes 2, a two-unit demonstration that will generate “low-power” electricity. Hermes 2’s final safety evaluation was completed last week by the NRC, “nearly four months ahead of schedule, and using about 60% fewer resources than expected.”
Kairos is also new in using performance-based, fixed-price milestone funding to design, build, and commission its 35-MWth Hermes demonstration. The DOE awarded the firm a $303 million funding deal in February 2024, with set payments for project milestones. The DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) risk reduction award allows Kairos and the DOE to implement the plan under a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA). The December 2020 ARDP grant for the Hermes project is $629 million over seven years, with $303 million, or 48%, from the DOE.
Cooperative Work
Kairos developed Hermes after extensive collaboration with partners including Hermes is a collaboration between Kairos Power, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, EPRI, and Materion Corp. In addition, Kairos Power is collaborating with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop TRISO pebble fuel for Hermes at their Low-Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility. On Tuesday, Kairos Power announced a cooperative development agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to support Hermes with engineering, operations, and licensing.
Significant US advanced nuclear milestone. Congratulations Kairos Power! This is crucial to commercializing the technology. Clean energy in America will use advanced nuclear technology.
The milestone is also remarkable amid renewed nuclear power optimism. The sector has received global support for its carbon-free power and heat potential, according to POWER.
In June, Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower began construction on the non-nuclear section of Kemmerer Unit 1, a 345-MW Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plant about miles from PacifiCorp’s three-unit 604-MW coal and gas–fired Naughton Power Plant. Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation business TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) presented Natrium in September 2020. TerraPower submitted a construction permit application (CPA) to the NRC in March 2024 through a fully owned subsidiary US SFR Owner. The NRC accepted it on May 21. TerraPower expects to submit the operating license in 2027, allowing it to start building on the nuclear island in 2026 and finish the plant “this decade.” The NRC is still setting a review timeline for the CPA.
Hermes’ construction illustrates another swift nuclear development trip that began fewer than four years ago. Kairos, launched in 2016, stated it would deploy a test reactor at the ETTP in Oak Ridge in December 2020 after due diligence and consultations with state and local officials. The 2,200-acre ETTP site, home to the K-33 gaseous diffusion facility for 40 years, is now a private industrial park.
TVA’s 935-acre Clinch River site in Roane County, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has the NRC’s only early site permit (ESP) and is roughly 6 miles away. Last year, TVA announced it was developing a building permit application for a GE Hitachi BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site and researching other TVA service area locations for SMR deployments.
Kairos Power co-founder and chief technology officer Edward Blandford said, “We’re thrilled to start building in the historic East Tennessee Technology Park.” “Oak Ridge, the Department of Energy and its contractors, and Barnard have been great partners in repurposing this brownfield site. “Barnard’s track record and people-centered culture fit Kairos Power, and we look forward to working together to realize the future of clean nuclear energy,” he said.
June US New Home Sales Hit Seven-month Low
Original Source: US new home sales fall to seven-month low in June
As mortgage rates and prices rose, June sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell to a seven-month low, indicating that the housing market rebound stalled in the second quarter.
The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau reported Wednesday that new house sales fell 0.6% to 617,000 units last month, the lowest level since November. The May sales rate was raised to 621,000 from 619,000.
More than 10% of U.S. home sales are new, and Reuters economists predicted 640,000 units. Contract signing counts new home sales. However, monthly volatility is possible. June sales down 7.4% year-over-year.
Although the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell from 7.22% in early May, it remained high throughout June.
In anticipation of a September Federal Reserve interest rate cut, it fell to a four-month low of 6.77% last week, according to Freddie Mac. That could boost future sales.
For now, the housing market is weak. Tuesday’s National Association of Realtors data showed June existing home sales at a six-month low. Single-family home starts and permits fell last month.
The U.S. central bank’s vigorous monetary policy tightening to curb inflation has hurt the housing market most. Residential investment, including home building and sales, grew double-digits in the first quarter, lifting it out of its slump.
Residential investment likely fell in April-June, economists say.
Thursday will see the government’s advance second-quarter GDP estimate. A 2% annualized growth rate is expected for the second quarter. The economy expanded 1.4% in Q1.
Last month, Northeast new home sales decreased 7.7% and Midwest sales declined 6.9%, a more inexpensive region. They rose 1.4% in the West and 0.3% in the heavily populated South.
June median new home prices fell 0.1% to $417,300 from a year earlier. Most residences sold last month were under $499,999.
New house inventory rose to 475,000 in June from 472,000 in May. It would take 9.3 months to clear the housing supply at June’s sales pace, up from 9.1 months in May.
Summary of today’s construction news
In summary, the start of building Hermes is a good example of another way that advanced nuclear technology has changed since it began less than four years ago. Kairos was formed in 2016 and first said it would put a test reactor at the ETTP in Oak Ridge in December 2020, after doing its research and talking with state and local officials. The K-33 gaseous diffusion plant site was on the ETTP site for 40 years and covers 2,200 acres. It is now a private industrial park.
On the other hand, in the past month, sales of new homes fell 7.7% in the Northeast and 6.9% in the Midwest, which is thought to be a more inexpensive area. They went up 1.4% in the West and 0.3% in the South, which has a lot of people.
