Stepping up the country’s nuclear energy goals, the American government has greenlit another clean energy project.

A hybrid nuclear power plant with 2.5 gigawatt (GW) energy capacity will be up and running in Victoria, Texas, in less than five years. The project would break free from historic nuclear construction timelines, which typically take more than 10 years to complete.

To reduce those delays, the government has backed clean-tech startup Blue Energy, which expects to shorten construction time to about 36 months.

To minimize the cost and construction period, the company will manufacture prefabricated reactor sections, called “Blue Blocks,” at shipyards. Built using conventional reactor designs, each block will weigh around 1,500 tons, the company claimed, and can be transported directly from the shipyard and assembled at the nuclear plant site within a year.

“The 1,500-ton Blue Block prefabricated modules are fully functional mechanically and electrically, they have plumbing — everything is delivered ready to run directly to the site,” said Blue Energy founder and CEO Jake Jurewicz.

Recognizing that the “nuclear problem is a construction problem,” Jurewicz said the company plans to leverage the existing manufacturing supply base used by offshore oil, gas, and wind industries that operate from shipyards.

The company said building at shipyards offers several advantages, including access to a large skilled workforce, specialized infrastructure, and greater opportunities for automation because manufacturing takes place under controlled conditions.

The Blue Blocks will house small modular light-water reactors supplied by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

Beyond shipyard construction and prefabricated modules, the company also plans to operate its plants on natural gas initially before transitioning to nuclear reactors, a strategy aimed at reducing costs and avoiding project delays.

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