Advanced Nuclear Reactor Approval Signals Shift in US (1)

For the first time in more than 50 years the US granted permission for a new type of nuclear reactor, a sign regulators are becoming more open to different approaches to producing power from splitting the atom.

California startup Kairos Power LLC received a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build its Hermes demonstration reactor in Tennessee. While commercial reactors in use today are cooled by water, the Kairos technology uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant.

There’s growing global interest in accelerating deployment of nuclear power as a key part of the fight to rein in climate ...