Reactors

Texas A&M wants to host next-gen nuclear, small modular reactor testing

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents agreed to notify regulators at the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it has potential sites available at Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan for multiple companies to test and construct the next generation of nuclear reactors.

Texas A&M wants to host next-gen nuclear, small modular reactor testing
(Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

With data center demand showing no sign of stopping, Texas A&M University System officials have taken the first steps to provide testing sites for next-generation nuclear reactors on land it owns, projecting that it will become the only higher education institution with a commercial reactor site license.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents agreed to notify regulators at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it has potential sites available at Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan for multiple companies to test and construct the next generation of nuclear reactors.

The test bed for the reactors will support multiple reactors from various companies, said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System, and the reactors at the site also could put additional power into the state’s energy grid at a time of high demand.

“The Texas A&M System is the missing piece of the puzzle,” Sharp said. “States on the west coast and east coast would never attempt what we are doing. Under the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott, only Texans – particularly those at the Texas A&M System – have the courage to take on such a weighty and ambitious responsibility.”

The submission of the letter of intent to the regulators marks the beginning of a licensing process for the A&M System. The Texas A&M System recently concluded the process of gathering proposals from nuclear reactor companies that hope to construct reactors at Texas A&M-RELLIS. Negotiations are expected to begin soon, the Texas A&M System said. After negotiations are complete, the A&M System will announce which companies will conduct testing and other work at Texas A&M-RELLIS.