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On Sept. 24, TRISO-X, a wholly-owned subsidiary of X-energy (Nasdaq: XE), announced the completion of vertical construction at TX-1 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

With the primary structure of the 214,000-square-foot building now finished, work is set to move inside. President of TRISO-X Joel Duling expanded on this significance of this milestone.

Completing vertical construction is a major milestone for TX-1 and another tangible demonstration of the progress our team is making in Oak Ridge. We are moving from constructing the core and shell of the facility to building out the interior utilities, installing manufacturing equipment, and constructing key support capabilities. Every milestone brings us closer to establishing a new domestic source of advanced nuclear fuel and supporting the deployment of the next generation of American nuclear reactors.

When it’s up and running, TX-1 is expected to produce about 700,000 fuel pebbles a year, which is enough to fuel up to 11 of X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors.

This milestone follows a plethora of recent momentum for TRISO-X:

• In August, they grew their Oak Ridge campus by 70 acres, now totaling a 180-acre footprint.
• In July, they received an award from Gov. Bill Lee’s Nuclear Energy Fund to support the continued development of their fuel fabrication campus, including a planned second commercial fuel facility and a dedicated research and development center. This $11 million grant is expected to create more than 1,100 jobs.

We’re sure that as work on the inside wraps up, there will be even more to come.

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