Dear Friend,
Since Kairos Power’s founding in 2016, our singular focus on delivering a safe, affordable, and reliable clean energy solution has been constant. But, in that time, the global energy outlook has shifted dramatically. Following two decades of steady U.S. electricity demand, projections are now surging upward, increasing the challenge of decarbonization.
However, the Kairos Power team remains steadfast in our mission, and we’re tackling it with new zeal after launching a partnership with Google this fall to deploy 500 MW of clean electricity generation by 2035. This innovative agreement will help Kairos Power establish our commercial fleet and accelerate learning to realize the cost reductions that can only be achieved by repetition at scale. It’s a significant step toward making clean nuclear energy affordable so everyone, everywhere, can benefit from it.
The agreement builds on Kairos Power’s iterative technology development model, which is progressing steadily with the Engineering Test Unit (ETU) series forging ahead and the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor following close behind. These early iterations are generating crucial design, manufacturing, construction, and operational experience and laying the groundwork for the commercial demonstrations to follow.
Every day, I am inspired and humbled by the tenacity of the Kairos Power team and grateful for the support of our partners. The scale of what we hope to achieve remains daunting, but I am more confident than ever that the Kairos Power approach is what it will take to realize nuclear power’s full potential to provide safe and affordable clean energy.
– Mike
Google and Kairos Power Partner to Deploy 500 MW of Clean Electricity Generation
In October, Kairos Power and Google signed the world’s first corporate agreement for multiple advanced reactor deployments of the same design. Under the agreement, Kairos Power will develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Plants will be sited in relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centers, with the first deployment by 2030 to support Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals.
“Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product,” said Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder. “By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver.”
Read Google’s blog post to learn more about their support for advanced nuclear energy
Hermes Civil Construction Gets Underway
In July, Kairos Power began site work and excavation for the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor, the first Gen IV reactor to be approved for construction by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the first non-light-water reactor to be permitted in the U.S. in over 50 years.
Kairos Power has partnered with Barnard Construction Company, Inc. as the general contractor at our site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. With excavation nearly complete, the team is now preparing to commence safety-related nuclear construction and start pouring concrete early next year.
In tandem with Hermes, Barnard and Kairos Power have also started collaborating to build the third Engineering Test Unit (ETU 3.0) facility – a non-nuclear demonstration co-located in Oak Ridge that will help de-risk the supply chain, civil construction, and plant operations, and serve as a training platform for Hermes.
Hermes will be constructed in the footprint of the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant on land that was remediated by the Department of Energy in a decades-long cleanup effort.
“We’re thrilled to start building in the historic East Tennessee Technology Park,” said Edward Blandford, Kairos Power Chief Technology Officer and co-founder. “The City of Oak Ridge, the Department of Energy and its contractors, and the Barnard team have all been excellent partners in helping us repurpose this brownfield site to realize the future of clean nuclear energy.”
This Just In: Hermes 2 Construction Permit Approved by NRC
The NRC has voted to issue construction permits to Kairos Power for the Hermes 2 Demonstration Plant to be built adjacent to the Hermes reactor at our site in Oak Ridge. Hermes 2 will build on learnings from Hermes, demonstrating complete plant architecture at a smaller scale and supplying electricity to the grid. The Commission’s approval of the Hermes 2 construction permits follows the NRC staff’s thorough review of Kairos Power’s application, which was completed on an accelerated schedule of just over one year. Read more about this licensing milestone on our website.
Kairos Power Breaks Ground on Salt Production Facility and Dedicates Manufacturing Development Campus
Kairos Power leadership, elected officials, and key partners ceremonially break ground for a new Salt Production Facility to produce high-purity molten salt coolant for advanced reactors.
On October 2, Kairos Power leadership, elected officials, and key partners celebrated the groundbreaking of a new Salt Production Facility to be constructed at our campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The facility will produce high-purity, molten salt coolant for Kairos Power advanced reactors, starting with Hermes.
The unique heat-transfer medium is a chemically stable mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride salts known as “Flibe.” It allows the reactor to operate at low pressure and plays an important role in radiological containment, contributing to the technology’s robust inherent safety and simplifying its design.
The Salt Production Facility will build on lessons learned from Kairos Power’s Molten Salt Purification Plant, which successfully produced 14 tons of unenriched Flibe for the non-nuclear Engineering Test Unit (ETU 1.0) demonstration last year. The new plant will employ a proprietary chemical process to produce large quantities of high-purity Flibe enriched in Lithium-7 that will meet the stringent specifications to be used inside a reactor.
The Salt Production Facility groundbreaking was part of a larger dedication ceremony for Kairos Power’s Manufacturing Development Campus, which has grown substantially since opening its doors in 2020.
The Manufacturing Development Campus hosts facilities for advanced reactor component manufacturing, U-stamped pressure vessel production, modular reactor construction, fuel fabrication process development, and large-scale, non-nuclear testing, with more to come.
Guests toured the facilities and heard remarks from local, state, and federal leaders celebrating the transformational site where Kairos Power is piloting key manufacturing capabilities to deliver Hermes and the iterations that will follow. The campus is a major investment in infrastructure to support Kairos Power’s future commercial scale-up and advance our mission to enable the clean energy transition.
Engineering Test Unit 2.0 Moves Full Steam Ahead
Kairos Power’s next major hardware demonstration is well underway at our Albuquerque Manufacturing Development Campus. With the decommissioning of our first non-nuclear Engineering Test Unit (ETU 1.0) nearly complete, the Kairos Power team is fully focused on building its successor, ETU 2.0. Following a summer of design sprints, fabrication, and production, ETU 2.0’s modular equipment skids are coming together in earnest as the team prepares for installation.
The Pre-Commission, Install, Test, and Assembly (PITA) team is nearly finished with the Primary Heat Transport System (PHTS) module, one of 30+ plant equipment skids that will make up ETU 2.0.
The ETU 1.0 vessel, all alone in its enclosure, will be the last piece of equipment removed as decommissioning comes to an end.
Rapid Iteration in the Spotlight
Freethink Media recently featured Kairos Power’s iterative development approach in an episode of “In the Arena with Evan Baehr” filmed at our Albuquerque campus late last year. The segment offers a glimpse of ETU 1.0 days before it commenced molten salt operations and shows how coupling engineering and manufacturing allows Kairos Power to iterate nimbly as we optimize our design over successive hardware demonstrations.
More Highlights
Kairos Power is thrilled to welcome Entergy Corporation as the newest member of the KP-OMADA Advanced Nuclear Alliance. The consortium brings together leading North American utilities to advise on the development of Kairos Power’s fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology. Entergy joins an esteemed group of fellow KP-OMADA member corporations, including Bruce Power, Constellation, Southern Company, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“We believe advanced nuclear technologies will play an important role in decarbonizing the U.S. energy system. We’re pleased to be in a position to help nurture the development of new resources like KP-FHR.”
– Kimberly Cook-Nelson, Entergy Executive Vice President of Nuclear Operations and Chief Nuclear Officer
Kairos Power is proud to be named on MIT Technology Review’s 2024 list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch. This annual list highlights promising startups and established businesses developing innovative solutions to tackle climate change.
“We believe nuclear energy is necessary to meet the world’s growing electricity needs while making an impact on climate change. Thank you to MIT Technology review for recognizing Kairos Power as we work to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable advanced reactor technology to accelerate decarbonization and achieve a more sustainable future.”
– Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder
Kairos Power is honored to be named a Top Workplace in the Bay Area and Albuquerque for the third year running! It’s a testament to our incredible team, made up of wildly capable people with a diverse range of backgrounds, skill sets, and industry experience who are united by the mission to improve people’s quality of life while protecting the environment.
We are actively hiring for a number of positions, including CNC machinists, CNC programmers, welders, fabricators, electrical technicians, mechanical technicians, operators, engineers, and business operations roles. Explore current opportunities on our website to see how you can help build the future of clean energy.
What We’re Reading, Watching, and Listening To:
- Google Backs New Nuclear Power Plants to Power AI – Wall Street Journal
- VIDEO: Kairos Power CEO on Nuclear Power Deal with Google – CNBC Squawk on the Street
- VIDEO: Oak Ridge Company Signs Deal with Google – WBIR Knoxville
- PODCAST: Who’s powering nuclear energy’s comeback? – NPR The Indicator
- US Unveils Plan to Triple Nuclear Power by 2050 as Demand Soars – Bloomberg
- Nuclear Power Was Once Shunned at Climate Talks. Now, It’s a Rising Star – New York Times
