X-energy Secures NRC Permit to Build Four Reactors in Texas

Seadrift, Texas — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a construction permit for four small modular reactors at a Dow chemical plant in Texas, clearing the way for nuclear startup X-energy to begin its first commercial build, the company said Monday, according to TechCrunch.

What Did the NRC Approve?

The federal regulator signed off on four of X-energy's Xe-100 reactors to be built at the Dow site, each capable of generating 80 megawatts of electricity and 200 megawatts of heat, TechCrunch reported. X-energy says the permit marks the first NRC approval of an advanced nuclear reactor at an industrial site in the United States.

How Does the Xe-100 Design Work?

The Xe-100 is a small modular reactor, or SMR, a category the U.S. nuclear industry has promoted as a path to faster construction and lower costs than conventional plants. X-energy's design circulates helium gas over uranium-containing fuel pellets. No SMR is currently operating in the U.S., and TechCrunch notes that the cost and schedule advantages claimed by SMR developers remain unproven in practice.

Why Are Safety Groups Raising Concerns?

X-energy has argued its reactor is safer than many existing designs, but the Union of Concerned Scientists disputed both the claim and the pace of the regulatory review. Edwin Lyman, the organization's director of nuclear power safety, said in a statement cited by TechCrunch: "The NRC only accomplished this feat by pushing consideration of critical safety questions to a later date—issues the NRC should've fully resolved before green lighting construction."

When Will the Dow Reactors Start Producing Power?

X-energy told TechCrunch the reactors will not be operational until the early 2030s, a timeline that underscores the yearslong construction cycles typical of nuclear projects even under a streamlined SMR model.

What Does the Permit Mean for X-energy's Finances?

The company has drawn significant backing from technology firms racing to lock down electricity for data centers. Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund led X-energy's $500 million Series C-1 round, and Amazon separately committed to purchasing 5 gigawatts of capacity from the startup, according to TechCrunch. X-energy went public in April with a $1 billion initial offering, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm for nuclear-adjacent energy bets tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure demand.

That enthusiasm has since cooled. TechCrunch reports the stock is trading at less than half its IPO price, and Monday's permit news gave shares only enough of a lift to recover the prior week's losses. Nuclear construction remains capital-intensive and slow, and X-energy's own executives have said the company's first reactors are likely to carry higher costs before any economies of scale from modular design materialize.

The Dow approval nonetheless gives X-energy a concrete construction milestone as it competes with other SMR developers for a share of the electricity demand driven by hyperscale data centers and the broader artificial intelligence buildout.