April 14th, 2023

X-energy Shines at Summit Featuring Advanced Energy Projects

X-energy spent time in the spotlight last month at a summit featuring high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are part of the government’s ARPA-E program.

[left to right: Sarai Neloms (X-energy), Dr. Evelyn Wang (Director of ARPA-E), Henry Brannan (X-energy), Jennifer Granholm (Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy), Ian Davis (X-energy)]

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) helps advance technologies on the cusp of private sector investment and focused on new ways to generate, store, and use energy. The Department of Energy funds the program to help bridge the gap from the research and development phase to commercialization.

The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit (March 22-24 in National Harbor, Md.) attracted thousands of participants and featured more than 400 technology booths – including X-energy’s showcase for our Xe-100 reactor and TRISO-X fuel. X-energy’s booth also featured our progress on a “digital twin” project aimed as streamlining operations and maintenance in advanced nuclear plants.

“It was a really great opportunity to highlight the ways X-energy has leveraged ARPA-E for development of innovative applications around nuclear energy,” said Ian Davis, Plant M&D Engineering Manager. “We were asked us to participate in several tech demos and had a lot of high-profile visitors stop by our booth. It was exciting to showcase everything we’ve built since receiving the ARPA-E award nearly three years ago.”

Among the visitors to X-energy’s booth at the summit were: U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm; DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee.

In 2020, the DOE awarded X-energy $6 million from the ARPA-E program to support the company’s operational innovations in the Xe-100 nuclear power plants. The Xe-100 uses high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology and is powered by proprietary TRISO-X fuel pebbles that are designed to be meltdown proof.

X-energy is using the funding to leverage advanced technologies – including automation, robotics, remote and centralized maintenance, and monitoring – to optimize staffing plans and plant operations.