A collaboration with Rock Creek Innovations led to the design and fabrication of the safety system innovation
Members of the Xe-100 Reactor Protection System team and the first set of prototype equipment in Rockville, Maryland
X-energy Delivers Xe-100 Reactor Protection System Prototype for Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program
X-energy has delivered the first of four divisions of equipment for an Xe-100 Reactor Protection System (RPS) prototype, marking a significant milestone in the company’s efforts under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).
The RPS is a set of independent and redundant safety and security components that enables the automatic and safe shut down of a nuclear reactor. For the Xe-100, a fourth-generation small modular reactor (SMR), the system provides an added layer of protection for the plant and its environment. With a design simpler than those used in reactors of previous generations, the Xe-100 RPS uses the Highly Integrated Protection System (HIPS) platform, which is based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FGPA) technology. The HIPS platform was developed by Rock Creek Innovations and is approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for safety-related applications.
This first delivery of the prototype enables field testing, validation and optimization, the results of which will be built into the final Xe-100 RPS design.
“We’ve modeled how the system would behave in a plant simulator; now we can see how it behaves in real life,” said Shawn Hanvy, Digital Instrumentation and Control Engineer at X-energy. “The RPS design is an interactive and iterative process that will evolve over time. Unlike typical computer-based protection systems, it won’t use any software or microprocessors to operate, relying solely on simple and fixed logic that cannot be changed while in operation. The reduced complexity of the design lowers costs while increasing plant safety and security.”
Over the course of two years, X-energy worked in close collaboration with Rock Creek Innovations, a US-based company specializing in the design of safety critical systems, to develop the prototype.
“We’re proud to provide this first set of reactor protection prototype equipment to X-energy early in the design development process,” said Jason Pottorf, Engineering Manager at Rock Creek Innovations. “This will help ensure the system functions as intended, supports the regulator’s understanding of the design, and allows X-energy to begin developing the associated operator training.”
This first set of prototype equipment is tagged for installation at X-energy’s Mock-up Control Room in Rockville, Maryland.
The Xe-100 design is built on more than six decades of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) operation, research, and development. Engineered to operate as single units of 80 MWe or as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MWe, the reactor can provide clean, reliable and safe baseload power to an electricity system on a small footprint and with minimal water use.
In 2020, the DOE selected X-energy under its ARDP to deliver a four-module Xe-100 plant and a commercial TRISO fuel fabrication facility. X-energy aims to site the Xe-100 plant in Washington state as early as 2027, making it the first operational grid-scale SMR plant in North America.
About X-energy
X-energy is redefining nuclear energy. We manufacture fuel that seals uranium particles in a protective coating, which makes meltdown impossible and retains the uranium fuel inside. We also design plants that unlock the fuel's energy potential in a process that's as clean as wind or solar. When combined, the result is reliable carbon-free baseload power; produced safely, more affordable than ever before and available anywhere, at any time. For more information, visit https://x-energy.com or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
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