Kairos Power marked the launch of the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast, known as NuCAMP, at its Reactor Demonstration Campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on August 18. The 12-month collaboration is aimed at advancing nuclear manufacturing methods, construction techniques, and the regional trades workforce needed to build advanced reactors.
Partners include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's Tickle College of Engineering, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, Barnard Construction, and two community colleges. Samsung C&T Engineering and Construction Group and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering are advising the initiative.
Research priorities include precast concrete construction, large-format additive manufacturing, wire-arc additive manufacturing, and electron beam welding for reactor components. The program also covers two proposed master's degree programs and training pathways for welders, production technicians, and K-12 students.
ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer said the site was a gravel pit just under a year ago and now holds a structure complete enough to host a ceremony inside. He credited the welders, technicians, and skilled tradespeople who raised the walls, which is the workforce the nuclear industry will need at far greater scale to build reactors themselves.
Mike McGuire, recently named vice president of operations and site delivery after a period at SpaceX, opened the ceremony. "Our Hermes 2 will be the first fluoride, self-cooled, high-temperature reactor to regenerate 50 megawatts for the Tennessee Valley," McGuire said. "We are creating a blueprint to scale nuclear power across the US, and NuCAMP is part of that."
Source: Teknovation.biz - https://www.teknovation.biz/kairos-power-launches-nucamp/