U.S.-based X-Energy, which makes gas-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs), has teamed up with Fluor, an engineering and project management company, to build the former’s second nuclear power plant. The 320 MWe facility planned for Richland, Washington State, is scheduled to have X-Energy’s four Xe-100 small modular reactors. 

The increasing demand for carbon-free energy is bringing back nuclear energy in a new format. Instead of building large-scale nuclear power plants, nuclear startups are working to build reactors at scale in a factory and connect modules to improve the capacity of the power plant. 

The idea has been around for a while but has gathered steam in recent years, and SMRs have received approvals from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC). 

Maryland-based X-energy is one such SMR maker in the U.S.; it has not only received regulatory approval but is also close to securing a building permit for its first nuclear power plant in South Texas.

The company is now making its next big move in the northwest by deploying four of its Xe-100 SMRs at the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington State. 

First announced in 2024, the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility is a joint project between Amazon and X-energy near the Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington. 

The project will feature X-energy’s Xe-100 SMRs that can generate 80 MW of energy per module and boast passive safety systems that prevent the reactor from overheating. 

At the core of the power plant is the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, which uses helium as a coolant and TRISO fuel, which is embedded inside a graphite matrix, the size of a billiard ball.

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