X-energy公司正在开发Xe-100小型模块化反应堆，采用氦气冷却剂替代传统水冷系统，使其能在比现有反应堆高数百度的温度下运行1。该反应堆单机容量约80兆瓦，相当于现有大型反应堆容量的十分之一1。这一技术方案旨在满足混凝土、化工等重工业的高温热需求，因为工业供热占全球年温室气体排放的18%，其中约一半来自难以电气化的高温过程1。
Xe-100反应堆既可用于工业直供热，也可用于发电1。核管制委员会已为X-energy的燃料制造子公司颁发许可证，第一家工厂预计2028年完成1。X-energy与陶氏化学公司在德州的合作项目有望在2030年代初投入运营1，与亚马逊合作在华盛顿州里奇兰德建设的320兆瓦项目也在规划中，该项目由四座Xe-100反应堆组成1。此外，该公司还在英国东北部规划建设6吉瓦大型核电群1。
这项技术面临成本和污染挑战。美国能源信息署计算显示，小型模块化反应堆的发电成本是太阳能电场的六倍多1。同时，Xe-100反应堆可能产生的乏核燃料体积是现有反应堆的10倍1。
X-Energy is developing the Xe-100, a small modular nuclear reactor that employs helium as a coolant instead of traditional water systems, enabling operations at temperatures hundreds of degrees higher than conventional reactors.1 The Xe-100 has a single-unit capacity of approximately 80 megawatts, roughly one-tenth the size of existing reactor plants, and can be deployed for direct industrial heat supply or electricity generation.1
The company is pursuing multiple commercial applications of this technology. A partnership with Dow Chemical in Texas is expected to become operational in the early 2030s, while a collaboration with Amazon in Richland, Washington aims to establish a 320-megawatt facility comprising four Xe-100 reactor units.1 X-Energy is also planning a 6-gigawatt large-scale nuclear power cluster in northeast England.1 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has already issued a license to X-Energy's fuel manufacturing subsidiary, with the first facility expected to be completed by 2028.1
However, challenges remain for the technology's competitiveness and deployment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration calculated that electricity generation costs from small modular reactors exceed those of solar farms by more than sixfold.1 Additionally, the Xe-100 may produce spent nuclear fuel with a volume ten times larger than that of existing reactors.1 Despite these constraints, the helium-cooled design addresses a significant market need: industrial heating accounts for 18 percent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, with approximately half stemming from high-temperature processes difficult to electrify.1
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