X-energy announced in August the award of $48.2 million to Clark Construction Group for the completion of the core and shell of the 214,812-square-foot facility. Once completed, TX-1 will produce 5 metric tons of uranium, or around 700,000 TRISO fuel pebbles each year, which is enough fuel for 11 Xe-100 SMRs.
Transition to construction: According to X-energy, the beginning of construction of the TX-1 building marks the transition from site development to full-scale facility construction. Construction on this next phase is expected to be completed mid-2026.
TX-1 is on track to be the first Category II fuel fabrication facility licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is expected to bring more than 400 new jobs to the region
In parallel with construction, TRISO-X said it continues to engage with the NRC during the license review process and anticipates receiving regulatory approval by May 2026. In addition, the company recently received approval from the Department of Energy to spend an additional $30 million to secure long-lead procurement items to adhere to the overall project schedule.
Operations are projected to start in 2027 with the initial fuel production supporting X-energy’s first commercial reactor, a proposed four-unit plant in partnership with Dow Chemical Company at their chemical plant in Seadrift, Texas.
Testing: To qualify TRISO-X pebble fuel for commercial use in the Xe-100, X-energy said it has begun confirmatory qualification testing of its TRISO-X fuel at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor, in collaboration with the DOE and the National Reactor Innovation Center.
According to the company, the 13-month program will evaluate fuel performance under a full range of power levels, temperatures, and burn-up conditions—the first commercially produced SMR fuel form to undergo testing of this rigor.
Quote: “The start of vertical construction marks another significant milestone in bringing our bold vision for the future of nuclear energy to life,” said Joel Duling, president of TRISO-X. “As TX-1 takes shape, it will stand as a symbol of our team’s relentless dedication and determination to bring this transformative project forward in just a few years, not decades.”
