Doosan Enerbility will begin in earnest to prepare to manufacture the main equipment for the small modular reactor (SMR) of X-energy, a U.S. SMR developer.
Doosan Enerbility said on the 12th that on the 11th in Washington, D.C., it signed a reservation agreement for SMR core materials with X-energy. The signing ceremony was attended by Doosan Enerbility President Kim Jong-du and X-energy President Clay Sell, among others from both companies.
The agreement was made to secure in advance Doosan Enerbility's forgings, the core materials for 16 units of the Xe-100 (SMR model name) that X-energy will build. Forgings are medium- and large-size materials needed to manufacture SMR main equipment and take a long time to produce. Doosan Enerbility plans to begin producing forgings and modules through follow-up contracts with X-energy.
X-energy is a next-generation high-temperature gas-cooled SMR developer supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Unlike conventional light-water reactors that use water as a coolant, it is pushing to build the Xe-100 reactor, which uses helium gas as a coolant.
For its first SMR project, X-energy plans to supply four Xe-100 units to the industrial complex of Dow, a leading U.S. chemical company, in Texas. It will then supply 12 Xe-100 units to Energy Northwest, a public power supplier in Washington state.
In 2021, Doosan Enerbility signed a design service contract with X-energy to manufacture SMR main equipment, and in 2023 it participated in an equity investment in X-energy. In Aug., Doosan Enerbility, X-energy, AWS, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) signed a four-party memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on SMR projects.
Doosan Enerbility President Kim Jong-du said, "This reservation agreement with X-energy is a meaningful milestone indicating that SMRs are now entering full-fledged production," adding, "As a key partner in manufacturing X-energy's SMR main equipment, we will support the project by strictly adhering to quality and delivery schedules."