Doosan Enerbility Signs Reservation Agreement with X-energy for Core Materials of 16 SMR Units

Doosan Enerbility will be embarking on preparations for the manufacturing of core components to be used in X-energy’s advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). On December 12th, Doosan Enerbility announced that it had signed a reservation agreement with the US-based SMR developer X-energy to supply core materials for X-energy’s advanced reactors.  The signing ceremony, which was held in Washington D.C. on December 11th (local time), was attended by the related parties, including Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy and Jongdoo Kim, CEO of Doosan Enerbility’s Nuclear Business Group. The agreement came to be pursued as X-energy sought to preemptively secure Doosan Enerbility’s forgings, key materials to be used in sixteen of X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors*. Mid to large-sized forgings, which are required in the manufacturing of the main components of SMRs, are materials that require a long production lead time.  Follow-up agreements on commencing the manufacturing of the SMR forgings and modules are expected to subsequently take place between the two companies.* Xe-100 is the name of X-energy’s advanced small modular reactor model. Unlike the conventional water-cooled reactors, the Xe-100 reactor uses helium gas as the coolant. X-energy is a developer of next-generation high temperature gas-cooled reactors, which currently receives support from the U.S. Department of Energy.  The first project to which the delivery is to be made is Dow Inc.’s industrial complex in Texas, where four units of the Xe-100 reactor are scheduled to be deployed.  Another 12 units of the Xe-100 reactor are to be deployed for Energy Northwest at its project site in Washington state. The Energy Northwest project, a 5GW-scale project slated to be completed by 2039 via collaboration between X-energy and Amazon Web Services (AWS), is being pursued as part of a large-scale project that ultimately aims at having 60 units of the Xe-100 reactors deployed. “As Doosan Enerbility is a leading global supplier of nuclear equipment, equipped with unparalleled capabilities and expertise in this area, it will play a vital role in helping us enter the global market with our Xe-100 reactors,” said X-energy CEO Clay Sell. “We are proud to be entering into a partnership with Doosan on this major project.” “This reservation agreement signed with X-energy is a significant milestone for us, signifying that we are now officially embarking on the manufacturing process,” said Jongdoo Kim, CEO of Doosan Enerbility’s Nuclear Business Group. “As X-energy’s major partner responsible for supplying the main SMR components, we are committed to ensuring full support on the project by strictly adhering to the requirements for product quality and deadline.” In 2021, Doosan Enerbility had signed an agreement with X-energy on the design and engineering required for manufacturing of the main SMR components.  In 2023, the announcement was made about Doosan Enerbility making an equity investment in X-energy, leading to further strengthening of the partnership. This past August, a memorandum of understanding had been signed in Washington D.C. by Doosan Enerbility, X-energy, Amazon and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) on entering into a SMR partnership.