Nuclear startup company Blue Energy is one step closer to developing what it has described as the “world’s first gas-to-nuclear conversion,” a power plant that will use natural gas as a bridge to advanced nuclear energy.
The details: Blue Energy confirmed with Daily on Energy that the company recently received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its licensing topical report, which supports its model to use natural gas to later deploy new nuclear power.
As a result, Blue Energy now has improved methodology whereby it is able to begin building and installing all “non-safety significant components” of its power facility without an NRC construction permit. For CEO and co-founder Jake Jurewicz, that includes key components critical for energy production from natural gas, including the steam turbine and powertrain.
“We can energize it early with gas and a combined cycle configuration, and then we can switch it over to nuclear steam at a later date, when the nuclear reactor is installed and ready to go and fully commissioned,” Jurewicz told Callie.
Blue Energy said this approval from the NRC will cut at least five years off the conventional timeline to build a nuclear reactor, slashing the development timeline to just 48 months or less. The company is planning to begin construction on the Port of Victoria, Texas, plant during the second quarter of this year.
It plans on applying for a construction permit for its nuclear reactor in 2027, with first power expected in 2030 – a full year ahead of when it first announced plans to build the facility in October.
Key quote: “This represents, for the first time, truly using gas as a bridge to nuclear power that’s been talked about, I think, as a talking point for many years, even decades, but this is quite technically and from a financial structuring standpoint, we are using the gas as a bridge to a new nuclear solution,” Jurewicz said.