US-based global multinational materials science company Dow, most famous for its chemical production (concentrated in subsidiary Dow Chemicals), has announced that it has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with US small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) company X-energy.

Under that LoI, Dow and X-energy will work together to deploy the latter’s Xe-100 advanced high-temperature gas SMRs at a Dow industrial site on the Gulf of Mexico coast of the US. Dow will also take a minority shareholding in X-energy.

This SMR nuclear power plant is expected to be operational by around 2030. It will provide both zero-carbon process heat and electricity for the Dow plant. The overall aim is to reduce Dow’s carbon emissions.

“Advanced small modular nuclear technology is going to be a critical tool for Dow’s path to zero-carbon emissions and our ability to drive growth by delivering low-carbon products to our customers,” affirmed Dow chairperson and CEO Jim Fitterling. “X-energy’s technology is among the most advanced, and when deployed will deliver safe, reliable, low-carbon power and steam. This is a great opportunity for Dow to lead our industry in carbon-neutral manufacturing by deploying next-generation nuclear energy.”

“Nuclear energy has always offered the promise of broad economy-wide decarbonisation,” highlighted X-energy CEO Clay Sell. “[This] announcement marks an important step in turning that aspiration into reality. Dow has a remarkable 125-year history of bringing innovative solutions to the market, and their leadership is a critical driver in meeting decarbonisation goals in the energy- intensive industrial sector. X-energy is proud to combine our leading nuclear technology with Dow’s production capabilities to deliver a global materials supply chain that is safer, cleaner, and greener than ever before.”

In 2020, X-energy was chosen by the US Department of Energy, under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme, to build a four-reactor Xe-100 SMR plant in the US state of Washington. This will be one of the first grid-scale advanced reactor plants to become operational in North America.

The Xe-100 is, by virtue of it being a high-temperature gas reactor, classified as a Generation IV reactor.