During a conference presentation in Vietnam last year, a representative of the World Nuclear Association in London was describing small modular reactor (SMR) development when he paused, recalled Kenneth Lee Peddicord, Ph.D., P.E., who attended the conference.
SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors, as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“As the speaker was going down a list of SMR designs around the world, he stopped and said, ‘I need to tell you what is happening in Calhoun County, Texas,’ ” continued Peddicord, professor emeritus and senior professor of nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University.
From the county perspective, the now-international story began on May 10, 2023, when a representative from Dow appeared before the Calhoun County Commissioners Court to discuss a proposed advanced SMR nuclear project at Dow’s Seadrift Operations (Seadrift) site near Port Lavaca. The Commissioners Court voted to establish a reinvestment zone and grant Dow a tax abatement, helping to seal the deal and bring this unique class of SMRs to the United States.
“At Seadrift Operations, we are very excited about the announcement of the advanced nuclear project,” Lead Site Manufacturing Director Heather Lyons stated.
“I want to recognize Judge Richard Meyer and the Calhoun County Commissioners Court, specifically, for their partnership in making this project a reality,” Lyons continued. “Throughout the entire process, the Judge and the Commissioners Court have fostered collaboration, and we are thankful for their support.”
The project, summarized below, is now a topic of discussion across the globe.
- Dow Inc., a materials science company, and X-energy, a fuel manufacturer and power system developer, are partnering to build four Xe-100 advanced SMRs at Dow’s Seadrift plant.
- Each reactor will produce 80 megawatts of power for a combined total of 320 megawatts.
- The advanced nuclear assets will replace the site’s existing gas-fired and steam turbines. Along with providing continual onsite electricity, the SMRs will provide process heat, or steam, for Dow’s chemical manufacturing process. As a result, emissions of carbon dioxide from the Seadrift site will be reduced by 440,000 metric tons per year, according to Dow.
- The project is expected to bring more than 1,500 construction jobs to Calhoun County and result in up to 100 permanent jobs upon completion.
- Dow and X-energy are in the process of applying for construction permits. Construction on the plant will likely begin in 2026 and be completed by the end of 2030.
“This project will bring great benefit to the citizens of Calhoun County,” shared County Judge Richard Meyer.
Calhoun County Commissioner Gary Reese, whose precinct includes Seadrift, echoed Meyer, referencing the potential sales tax dollars from people spending money on hotels, RV parks, restaurants, and housing.
“It should bring a considerable economic boom,” Reese predicted. “As for the nuclear facility, it’s cutting-edge technology that’s being deployed here that has the backing of the Department of Energy.”
An endeavor of this magnitude took regional collaboration, Meyer noted, with partners including the Victoria Economic Development Corporation (VEDC).
“As a regional economic development organization with a focus on recruiting and retaining jobs, this project represents the best of both initiatives,” VEDC Vice President Sharon Barnard observed. “We are fortunate to have a legacy industrial partner in our community that has chosen to reinvest in their infrastructure in such a dynamic way.”
The VEDC worked with Dow, X-energy, and community partners as needed with data requests, incentive inquiries, workforce development initiatives, and stakeholder communication.
In October 2023, Calhoun County received the 2023 Community Economic Development Award for the Seadrift project from the Texas Economic Development Corporation.
As the timeline has continued to unfold, the Calhoun County Commissioners Court has received an education in nuclear technology due in large part to Peddicord, who has taught nuclear engineering for 41 years at Texas A&M University, home of two research and teaching reactors.
“The entire Commissioners Court has toured several nuclear facilities at A&M with Dr. Peddicord,” Meyer summarized, including in-depth visits to the Texas A&M Nuclear Engineering and Science Center and the Center for Advanced Small Modular and Micro Nuclear Reactors.
“We were all enlightened,” Meyer recalled. “It was truly amazing.”
In August of last year, Meyer and Reese traveled to Austin, where Gov. Greg Abbott discussed the reactors coming to Seadrift.
“This SMR project further cements Texas’ position as a global energy leader and will bring good-paying jobs and more economic opportunity to hardworking Texans in the Coastal Bend,” Abbott stated.
Mounting Spotlight
While some are familiar with the large-scale nuclear industry, the SMR is a relatively new concept. Incidentally, Texas is home to two large-scale sites: Comanche Peak in Glen Rose, Somervell County, and the South Texas Nuclear Project in Bay City, Matagorda County, both with two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, Peddicord said.
According to the IAEA, global interest in small- and medium-sized or modular reactors has been increasing due to their ability to meet the need for flexible power generation for a wider range of users and applications and replace aging fossil fuel-fired power plants. They also display an enhanced safety performance through inherent and passive safety features, offer better upfront capital cost affordability, and are suitable for cogeneration and non-electric applications, as explained by the IAEA. In layman’s terms, they are anticipated to be easier and faster to build and less expensive than the large-scale reactors.
When it comes to power, Texas has seen an increase in the use of wind and solar, Peddicord observed. However, these sources have led to some questions about reliability of dispatchable electricity and grid stability. The four SMRs will not only result in a reliable source of electricity for Dow, but they will also reduce carbon emissions.
“This is a big deal,” Peddicord said emphatically. “This is the wave of the future.”
There are very few operational SMRs in the world. While reports vary from agency to agency, the IAEA stated in September 2023 that Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first floating nuclear power plant, began commercial operation in May 2020 and is producing electrical energy from two 35 megawatt SMRs. Other SMRs are under construction or in the licensing stage in Argentina, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States, according to the IAEA report, https://bit.ly/SMRs, with interest from other countries continuing to grow.
Global Education
Texas A&M University is a partner in the U.S. Department of State’s Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) Program. FIRST is a multiagency U.S. government initiative that provides capacity-building support to help partner countries safely and responsibly build a small modular reactor or other advanced reactor program.
“The reason we are part of this program is to talk about workforce development and how to build a workforce to support a nuclear program,” Peddicord explained. These countries are interested in learning about SMRs, how they differ from the larger reactors, and how they can be used. The SMRs coming to the Dow site in Calhoun County are gaining attention and helping tell the story, Peddicord reported.
“The eyes of the world are turning to Calhoun County,” he reiterated, including those in Armenia, Chile, Estonia, Ghana, Kenya, Romania, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and more.
As Peddicord continues to share his international conversations with Meyer, the Judge’s enthusiasm continues to grow.
“We have a high-intensity global spotlight shining on our county,” Meyer exclaimed, “and we are very excited!”
In May, Texas A&M University co-sponsored and hosted an international mentoring workshop with mentors coming from all over the world including Korea, Japan, and France to work with 50 high school students. One of the co-sponsors and participants in the event was Dow, and students from Calhoun High School attended. The activity was organized by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), based in Paris, France. NEA Director-General William D. Magwood IV and Commissioner Annie Caputo of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission both attended the conference and visited Seadrift in person.
“They made it clear that they wanted to go to where it is happening,” Peddicord recapped. “That’s why around the world, it is very exciting to talk about Calhoun County!”
