NRG PALLAS Supporting The Development Of Kairos Power SMR Fleet

NRG PALLAS (ENS Corporate Member) has signed a major contract with Kairos Power to assess materials and fuels that will be used in its Small Modular Reactor (SMR) fleet.

Kairos Power will build a number of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for Google data centres to deliver 500MW of clean electricity generation.

The US company has signed several agreements with NRG PALLAS to perform irradiation, demonstration and qualification of fuels and materials to support the KP-FHR commercial programme.

The fuel irradiation program at the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten will demonstrate the performance envelope needed for successful KP-FHR commercial operations.

Kairos Power’s collaboration with NRG PALLAS on graphite irradiation testing will be a valuable demonstration of the graphite reflector structure used in the KP-FHR reactor core. NRG PALLAS will perform irradiation services that characterize the graphite’s response to high levels of neutron
exposure and demonstrate the safety limits for the graphite structures. The graphite’s post-irradiation properties are an important metric in NRC licensing and inform the safety of the reactor technology.

Similarly, NRG PALLAS is supporting Kairos Power with irradiation testing of the stainless-steel material used for the reactor vessel and structural components to demonstrate safety and design limits for important licensing activities with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

With the current digitalisation, the demand for electricity is increasing. Companies like Google are looking ahead and arranging their own future energy needs with Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). We are proud that Kairos Power, a major player in the field of advanced reactors, has commissioned this innovative research from us

said Arjan Vreeling (Manager R&D Nuclear Fuels & Materials at NRG PALLAS).

Kairos Power is fully focused on commercialising the fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), an advanced (generation IV) SMR under development.

The US NRC has issued construction permits for the company’s first demonstration reactor, “Hermes,” and a follow-on iteration, “Hermes 2.” The company will build on lessons learned from the Hermes series to deploy the first plants in its commercial fleet for Google, with the first electrical generation capacity expected to come online by 2030.

NRG PALLAS has been carrying out research for Kairos Power on the use of graphite for multiple years. The new contracts mark an important continuation of the long-term relationship with this innovative advanced reactor developer.

Read the full NRG PALLAS Press Release.

Small Modular Reactors and research reactors have plentiful opportunities to create synergy. As nuclear innovation accelerates, collaboration between SMR enterprises and research reactor experts is more important than ever.

That’s why this year, at the European Research Reactor Conference (RRFM) 2025, we’re bringing these communities together for an open exchange on the future of innovative reactor development.