Rellis campus could host up to five small modular reactors
Texas A&M University has proposed offering land at its Rellis campus in Bryan, north of Houston, for the testing and construction of small modular nuclear reactors in a bid to help address power supply issues in the state.
The university would like to see about five nuclear reactors with capacities ranging from 10 MW to 200 MW built by different companies on its 900-hectare campus by the early- to mid-2030s, chancellor John Sharp said.
The university said it has taken the first official step to provide the sites that the nuclear companies desperately need.
It has notified regulators at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it has potential sites available for multiple companies to test and construct the next generation of nuclear reactors, a statement said.
The submission of a letter of intent to the NRC marks the beginning of a licensing process for a nuclear plant at the university. Reactor companies will benefit from A&M S taking on the licensing burden. The result will be a shorter path to getting their reactors up and running, the statement said.
If approved by the NRC, Texas A&M would be the first US university with a commercial nuclear reactor site licence.
The project could lead to energy advancements that could provide power to data centres for artificial intelligence and other power-hungry ventures, the statement said.
The university could support multiple reactors from various companies, Sharp added. The reactors at the site also could put additional power into the state’s energy grid at a time of high demand.
Texas A&M recently concluded the process of gathering proposals from nuclear reactor companies that hope to construct reactors at the Rellis campus.
Negotiations are expected to begin soon, the university said. After negotiations are complete, the Texas A&M will announce which companies will conduct testing and other work at Rellis.
Rellis is an integrated education, research and testing institution. It includes seven engineering facilities and two education centres.
