Fluor Corporation has been selected by X-Energy to provide engineering, design and project management services for the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, an advanced small modular reactor (SMR) project near Richland, Washington.

The undisclosed contract value will be recognised by Fluor in the third quarter.

Under the agreement, Fluor will deliver engineering, design development, supply chain, cost estimating and project controls services for the facility's nuclear island.

The project will deploy X-Energy's Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology, with Fluor drawing on experience from its ongoing work with the company to advance project development, optimise execution planning and support investment decisions.

“Advanced nuclear technologies are poised to play a critical role in meeting growing energy demand while supporting decarbonization goals,” said Pierre Bechelany, Fluor’s Business Group President of Energy Solutions. “The Cascade Advanced Energy Facility represents an important step forward in the deployment of next-generation nuclear energy. Fluor is proud to bring decades of nuclear expertise and project execution experience to support X-energy and its partners in advancing this innovative project.”

The facility is expected to feature four Xe-100 reactors with a combined generating capacity of approximately 320 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free electricity.

Plans allow for expansion to 12 units, potentially increasing capacity to 960 MW.

The project represents the first step in X-Energy's ambition to deploy 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2039. -OGN/TradeArabia News Service