The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission released its Final Safety Evaluation Report on October 30 for the construction permit application covering the Long Mott Generating Station, a four-unit X-energy Xe-100 plant planned at Dow Chemical's Seadrift Operations in Texas, World Nuclear News reported.
NRC staff concluded that the plant and site provide a sufficient safety basis to begin construction under US regulations. The report covers the Xe-100's principal design criteria, preliminary design, safety analyses, probabilistic risk assessment and research and development programs. The agency completed its environmental review in May 2026, issuing an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact. With both primary reviews done, the application is in the final stage of the construction permit process. The NRC told followers on social media to stay tuned for a construction permit announcement soon and did not give a date.
Long Mott Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, submitted the application in March 2025. The plant would use four Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors with a combined 800 MWt of thermal capacity, or 320 MWe of electrical output. It would supply electricity and process steam to the Seadrift site, with excess power going to the grid. X-energy says it would be the first grid-scale advanced reactor at an industrial facility in US history.
The Xe-100 is the first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor construction permit application reviewed under the NRC's technology-inclusive, risk-informed, performance-based licensing framework. NRC pre-application engagement began in 2018 and draws on decades of US Department of Energy research on the reactor type.
Source: World Nuclear News - https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/texas-smr-plant-moves-to-final-permitting-stage