Safeguards by Design for the Xe-100 is a task under the Canadian Safeguards Support Program
X-energy is proactively engaged in Safeguards by Design (SBD) planning with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Representatives from X-energy visited the IAEA offices in Vienna, Austria, last month to meet with members of the Department of Safeguards through the Member State Support Program (MSSP). The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is facilitating the engagement between X-energy and the IAEA as part of the Canadian Safeguards Support Program (CSSP) task on safeguards-by-design for small modular reactors.
“These important meetings allow for an open exchange of information with the IAEA to enhance X-energy’s awareness of safeguard needs and obligations in support of international deployments of the Xe-100,” said Dr. Martin van Staden, X-energy’s senior vice president for the Xe-100, a high temperature gas-cooled reactor developed through decades of research, development, and operating experience.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the IAEA and CNSC to review international safeguards for our Xe-100 reactor design. We are leading the deployment of next-generation nuclear on a global stage by committing to develop solutions that meet international safeguards. This is a voluntary undertaking that demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the Xe-100 is designed to easily implement international safeguards.”
IAEA safeguards are a series of independent measures coordinated between countries, such as Canada and the IAEA, which verify compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). X-energy is working on safeguard requirements in advance of final design and construction to de-risk international deployment of this advanced nuclear technology. We are building safeguards into the system, rather than around it afterwards. This results in a number of potential advantages, including:
Reduced burden on operators, and the IAEA, by optimizing inspections;
Enhanced use of advanced technologies, such as unattended monitoring systems and remote data transmission;
Reduced risk of costly retrofitting in support of international deployments;
Joint use of equipment;
Increased flexibility for future installation of safeguards equipment; and
Reduced risk to cost, scope and schedule.
“By working with the IAEA at an early stage in reactor design, safeguards considerations can be embedded into the design of these reactors, so that nuclear verification can be performed in the most effective and efficient way with minimal burden on the operator,” said Jeremy Whitlock, Senior Technical Advisor at the IAEA Department of Safeguards, in a 2021 article on the IAEA’s website.
X-energy’s Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (“HTGR”) technology can power a broad range of applications through its high-temperature heat and steam output that can be integrated into and address the needs of large regional electricity providers as well as industrial manufacturing systems. Each module can provide 80 megawatts of full-time electricity. X-energy’s innovative and simplified modular design is road-shippable and intended to drive scalability, accelerate construction timelines and create more predictable and manageable construction costs.
About X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC
X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC, is a leading developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation that is redefining the nuclear energy industry through its development of safer and more efficient reactors and proprietary fuel to deliver reliable, zero-carbon and affordable energy to people around the world. X-energy’s simplified, modular, and intrinsically safe SMR design expands applications and markets for deployment of nuclear technology and drives enhanced safety, lower cost and faster construction timelines when compared with conventional nuclear. For more information, visit X-energy.com or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
About the International Atomic Energy Agency
The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear power worldwide. It maintains several programs that encourage the development of peaceful applications of nuclear energy, science, and technology; provides international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials; and promotes and implement nuclear safety and nuclear security standards.
About the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
The CNSC regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public. The Commission is a quasi-judicial administrative tribunal set up at arm’s length from government, independent from any political, government or private sector influence.