Kairos Power is a nuclear energy engineering, design, and manufacturing company singularly focused on commercializing the fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR).

Kairos Power’s mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving people’s quality of life while protecting the environment.

The company embraces a novel approach to nuclear development that includes iterative hardware demonstrations and in-house manufacturing to achieve disruptive cost reduction and provide true cost certainty.

KP-FHR uses molten fluoride salt coolant (Flibe) operating at near-atmospheric pressure with ceramic coated TRISO particle fuel – dubbed “the most robust nuclear fuel on earth” by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The combination of extremely high-temperature-tolerant fuel and low-pressure, single-phase, chemically stable salt coolant yields robust, inherent safety while greatly simplifying the reactor’s design.

Kairos Power’s schedule is driven by the goal of U.S. demonstration by 2030 (or earlier) and rapid deployment ramp in the 2030s.

Kairos Power is working to achieve aggressive cost targets, delivering clean, safe, reliable energy at a cost competitive with natural gas.

Kairos Power’s primary strategies to meet these cost targets are a dramatic reduction in the physical footprint of safety-related systems made possible by the combination of TRISO fuel and Flibe coolant, paired with vertical integration for cost-significant portions of the KP-FHR nuclear island systems.

KP-FHR Fundamental Safety Case

The combination of extremely high-temperature-tolerant fuel and single-phase, chemically stable reactor coolant operating at low pressure removes entire classes of potential fuel-damage scenarios while greatly simplifying the design of the reactor and reducing the number of safety systems.

This is how KP-FHR is able to deliver increased margins of safety at lower capital costs than conventional light-water reactors.

Rapid Iterative Development

Kairos Power’s approach accelerates test cycles for innovation and optimization, leveraging multiple design-build-test cycles for both nuclear and non-nuclear systems prior to the first commercial reactor. Kairos Power is deeply committed to a culture that embraces learning by building, which enables its integrated design philosophy, testing program, and licensing approach.

Kairos Power’s rapid iterative approach features major hardware demonstrations on the path to commercialization, including a series of non-nuclear systems designed to test mechanical designs, establish manufacturing infrastructure, and build a sustainable supply chain for raw materials and off-the-shelf components, followed by a series of demonstration reactors designed to validate technology, optimize deployment strategies, and pave the way for full-scale commercial operations.

Licensing Strategy

Early, Active Engagement with the NRC: Kairos Power works closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) during the design phase, ensuring that key safety and technical considerations are addressed well before plant construction. Licensing Modernization Project (LMP): By adopting LMP principles, Kairos Power focuses regulatory reviews on the most safety-significant aspects of its reactor design, streamlining the approval process. Phased Licensing Approach: The company submits topical and technical reports along with a preliminary safety information document to gradually build regulatory confidence in its technology.

Regulatory Milestones & First-of-a-Kind Achievements

The NRC voted to issue a construction permit to Kairos Power for Hermes on Dec. 12, 2023. Hermes is the first non-water-cooled reactor to receive a U.S. construction permit in over 50 years, and the first-ever Gen IV reactor to be approved in the U.S.

The NRC voted to issue construction permits to Kairos Power for the Hermes 2 plant on Nov. 20, 2024. Hermes 2 is the first electricity-producing Gen IV plant to be approved for construction in the U.S.

The NRC staff’s thorough review was completed on an accelerated schedule of just over one year. This rapid timeline was made possible by Kairos Power’s extensive pre-application engagement with the NRC dating back to 2018, along with numerous process improvements piloted by the first Hermes CPA and the NRC’s new simplified mandatory hearing process.

Kairos Power’s advanced reactor technology is designed to accelerate the clean energy transition by providing dispatchable, affordable, and reliable power that improves grid resiliency and energy security to meet the growing energy demands of electrification, and other critical applications.