Fuel Facilities
The Manufacturing Foundation Behind Advanced Nuclear
TRISO-X is establishing a first-ever U.S. commercial campus dedicated exclusively to TRISO fuel fabrication, building the bridge from concept to commercial-scale capability across three distinct facilities to work to ensure a secure, domestic supply of high-quality High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium fuel.
TX-1
TX-1 is the first NRC-licensed commercial TRISO fuel production facility in the history of the United States, transitioning our proprietary production processes from pilot production at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to commercial-scale TRISO-X particle manufacturing for the first deployments of TRISO-X fuel.
- NRC Category II Part 70 License: TX-1 will operate, upon completion and final inspection, under a landmark 40-year Special Nuclear Material License.
- First-of-a-Kind Partnership: Supported by a 50/50 cost share under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program as part of X-energy’s first deployment of the Xe-100 small modular reactor.
TX-2
TX-2 will expand our nuclear fuel fabrication facility design to meet growing energy demands across heavy industry and AI infrastructure. Designed as a transplantable manufacturing footprint, TX-2 is intended to be replicated both domestically and internationally to establish local fuel security for global reactor projects.
- Built for Scale: Will scale production capacity to power approximately 55 Xe-100 reactors, supplying fuel for approximately 4.5 GW of clean, reliable energy.
- Automated Process Optimization: Will incorporate data from TX-1 to increase manufacturing throughput, lower unit fuel costs, and maximize fuel burnup.
- Economic Development: Expected to create more than 1,000 permanent, high-skilled technical jobs, strengthening the domestic manufacturing workforce.
- NRC License: Commercially licensed upon completion and final inspection under the same Category II Part 70 License as TX-1 by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
TX-L
TX-L is designed to be a dedicated advanced nuclear fuel facility for ongoing research, material characterization, and custom process optimization. This facility builds on almost a decade of pilot-scale production at ORNL, enabling us to integrate research & development directly into our commercial fuel campus and continue to iterate and accelerate fuel development without interrupting commercial manufacturing lines.
- Custom Fuel Geometries: Tailors kernel chemistries and ceramic layers for specialized applications, including defense microreactors and space propulsion systems.
- NQA-1 Quality Validation: Measures particle density, shape, and layer thickness to verify particle-to-particle uniformity against strict regulatory specifications.
- Feedstock Yield Optimization: Refines chemical vapor deposition parameters to minimize feedstock waste and optimize HALEU utilization.
- Proving Ground for Innovation: Serves as the initial testing site for new fuel forms—including compacts and pebbles—before scaling them into full commercial production campaigns.
Decades of Quality Assurance
Receiving the first nuclear fuel facility licensing approval in half a century marks a major step for American energy security. Built on the legacy of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Gas Reactor program, and decades of operational research and expertise before that, our commercial manufacturing capabilities are intended to convert proven material science into repeatable quality control.
- Nuclear fuel quality assurance: Replaces active mechanical backups with microscopic ceramic layers that are designed to be incapable of melting under severe conditions.
- TRISO fuel quality control: Uses a proprietary sol-gel process to form uniform kernels intended to yield maximum yield and precision consistency.
- Verified performance data: Extends operational burn-up with intrinsic safety features that helps end-users unlock smaller emergency planning zones that enable greater siting flexibility within a compact footprint.
Built in Oak Ridge
Located at the Horizon Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, our TX-1 fuel fabrication facility pairs historical nuclear expertise with commercial manufacturing. Our growing footprint in East Tennessee anchors a secure domestic supply chain while driving regional economic growth.
- Pilot-to-scale execution: Leverages a decade of joint development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to scale commercial fabrication through our pilot facility.
- Integrated research campus: Pairs TX-1 commercial manufacturing with our TX-L laboratory to advance nuclear fuel regulatory compliance.
- Local economic commitment: Expected to create more than 1,000 permanent advanced manufacturing roles across our 180-acre campus.
