Irving-based Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) has entered into a contract with Maryland’s X-energy to support the company’s proposed advanced nuclear project at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations in South Texas.
Under the agreement, Fluor will initially deliver Front-End Loading Stage 2 (FEL-2) services, Fluor said. FEL-2 focuses on project definition, strategic planning, feasibility assessment, cost control, and risk mitigation.
Four 80MW small modular reactors planned
The X-energy project is slated to develop four 80-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) units to supply Dow’s Seadrift site with “safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity and industrial steam, replacing aging energy and steam infrastructure,” Fluor said.
The project is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which accelerates the commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies through cost-shared partnerships with industry, Fluor said. A construction permit application for the project was submitted in March 2025 and is currently under review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pierre Bechelany, Fluor’s business group president of energy solutions, said X‑energy’s technology “offers a powerful pathway for small modular reactors to deliver safe, reliable and fit-for-purpose baseload power in an industrial setting.”
“With eight decades of nuclear experience, Fluor brings the proven expertise and disciplined execution required to help advance this landmark project,” he added in a statement.
Project to be a first for a grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor
X-energy was selected by the DOE in 2020 to develop, license and build its XE-100 advanced SMR and a first TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility, Fluor noted. Since then, the company has completed engineering and preliminary reactor design, advanced development, and licensing of its fuel facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Fluor said the Seadrift project is expected to become “the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial facility in North America.”
Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations span 4,700 acres and produce more than 4 billion pounds of materials annually for applications including food packaging, footwear, wire and cable insulation, solar cell components, and medical and pharmaceutical packaging, Fluor noted.
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