Materials giant Dow Inc. is moving forward with plans to use nuclear power instead of natural gas at its production site in Seadrift, Texas.
Long Mott Energy, a business unit of Midland, Mich.-based Dow, applied March 31 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction permit. The application said the project with X-Energy Reactor Co. LLC, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel firm, would nearly eliminate emissions associated with power and steam generation in Seadrift.
"This is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the U.S.," Dow Energy and Climate Vice President Edward Stones said in a March 31 news release.
X-Energy CEO J. Clay Sell added that the application "is a critical step to deliver on the vision of Congress and DOE to position the U.S. at the forefront of commercializing advanced reactor technology."
"Together with [Dow], we will demonstrate how the technology deployed at Seadrift, Texas, can be quickly and efficiently replicated to meet incredible power demand growth across America," he added.
The proposed project could begin construction later this decade and start up early next decade, officials said. They added the nuclear power and steam assets would eliminate most Scope 1 and 2 emissions at the site and ensure it "remains competitively advantaged for the life of the facility."
Switching to nuclear would eliminate about 1.1 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to an Associated Press report, which also quoted the NRC saying the project would be the first U.S. commercial advanced nuclear power plant for an industrial site.
According to the AP report, Dow wants four of X-Energy's advanced small modular reactors to supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity or 800 megawatts of thermal power. Dow operates eight plants on 4,700 acres in Seadrift. Products made by Dow in Seadrift include polyethylene resins.
Dow and X-Energy first announced their collaboration in May 2023. Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said at the time that advanced nuclear energy "has attractive advantages over other sources of clean power, including a compact footprint, competitive cost and enhanced power and steam reliability."
He added the Seadrift site "plays an important role in further advancing Dow's sustainability goals, as evidenced by our increasing growth and investment at the site."
X-Energy was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2020 to develop, license, build, and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor by the end of the decade.