Construction of US’ first fourth-gen nuclear reactor ‘Hermes’ begins | Hermes will use a TRISO fuel pebble bed design with a molten fluoride salt coolant to demonstrate affordable clean heat production.
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/hermes-us-fourth-gen-nuclear-reactor
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From the article: Kairos Power has started the construction of the Hermes Low-Power demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Hermes is the first and only fourth generation reactor to be approved for construction by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
According to Kairos Power, it is also the first non-light-water reactor to be permitted in the U.S. in over 50 years and is projected to be operational in 2027.
The Hermes reactor project is being supported through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
According to a [release](https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/kairos-power-starts-construction-hermes-reactor) by the Office of Nuclear Energy, Hermes reactor is being built to announce the development of the company’s commercial reactor that could be deployed next decade.
Hermes will use a TRISO fuel pebble bed design with a molten fluoride salt coolant to demonstrate affordable clean heat production.
The project was cleared for construction back in December by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The U.S. Department of Energy will invest up to $303 million to support the design, construction, and commissioning of Hermes through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Kairos Power is also partnering with Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce TRISO pebble fuel for the reactor. It also has a cooperative development agreement in place with the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide engineering, operations, and licensing support.
Today any kind of fission plant producing hot water is rather retrofuturism than true futurism.
Germany tested the viability of a pebble-bed reactor already in the 1960s.
I always wondered what happened to pebble bed reactors. There was a discussion of them a couple years ago then nothing.
Let’s hope everything goes well and it will be done in 2027. I strongly believe that we need more sources of power, and nuclear power will play an important role in meeting our energy demands. Especially if we look at a global scale where some countries (like Sweden) face challenges relying on things like solar power all year around.
>Hermes will use a TRISO fuel pebble bed design with a molten fluoride salt coolant to demonstrate affordable clean heat production.
Nothing in the article suggests the new reactor type somehow has no harmful waste byproduct, thus what’s described isn’t actually “clean” energy.
I can’t wait for Kyle Hill to present even better coverage of this story.