Regulatory Update

Kairos Power Construction Permit Application Accepted by the NRC for Review

November 30, 2021

​The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted for review Kairos Power’s construction permit (CP) application for constructing a test reactor at a site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Kairos application seeks to build the company’s “Hermes” test reactor, a 35-megawatt non-power reactor using molten salt to cool the reactor core, to provide operational data to support the development of a larger version meant for a commercial nuclear power plant.

The company will be required to submit a separate application for an operating license in the future. The NRC was able to establish a shortened CP application review schedule of 21 months based on previous Kairos pre-application interactions, and barring unforeseen delays, expects to complete its environmental and safety reviews by September 2023.