ONE Nuclear Energy has moved Project Amberjack, a planned small modular reactor campus in Louisiana, into technical and environmental evaluation. The company says it has secured control of the site and finished preliminary nuclear siting analyses, constraints assessments and conceptual layouts for a standalone, multi unit campus targeting up to 1 gigawatt of generation.
The project now enters a pre application phase ahead of any filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Field work will cover soil, geotechnical and groundwater conditions, environmental studies, cooling water options, construction logistics, transmission analysis and grid interconnection. The company also plans technology neutral screening of available small modular reactor designs, which leaves the reactor vendor selection open until engineering and commercial terms are settled.
Amberjack holds no NRC approval at this stage. The preliminary work does not constitute a reactor license, an environmental authorization or a final engineering decision, and the targeted capacity remains subject to technology selection, licensing review and financing.
Chris Hansmeyer, chief development officer at ONE Nuclear, tied the Amberjack site to the company's wider Louisiana platform. That platform also includes Project Cayman, a 2.88 gigawatt natural gas plant paired with a 700 megawatt battery storage system, and Barracuda Energy Park, a planned 1.2 gigawatt energy and data center campus.
The company points to Mississippi River access, an established regional energy workforce, transportation infrastructure and proximity to a major transmission corridor as reasons for siting the campus in Louisiana. Reactor technology selection and a licensing timeline have not been announced.
Source: Tomorrow's World Today - https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/nuclear/louisiana-small-modular-reactor-project-advances/