@xenergynuclear

Workshop on the Future

of Nuclear Power

National Governors Association

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

March 31, 2017

Carol Laneclane@x-energy.com

Reimagining Nuclear Energy

● Founded in 2009 out of Dr. Ghaffarian’s desire to address the world’s most serious energy challenges and make a lasting contribution to clean energy technology in the U.S. and around the world

● Leverages expertise from SGT, Inc. (www.sgt-inc.com) – 2nd

largest engineering services contractor to NASA, and another prominent company founded & managed by Dr. Ghaffarian. He is also leading several other high-technology companies (www.axiomspace.com and www.intuitivemachines.com)

● Funding of ~$32M committed through 2017 to the company

● Nucleonics team, led by Chief Nuclear Officer Dr. Eben Mulder, leverages experience from TRISO-based reactors around the world, including experience at AVR & THTR (Germany)

“I began X-energy because the world needs energy solutions

that are clean, safe, secure, and affordable. With so much at

stake, we cannot continue down the same path.”

-Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, Founder & CEO

X-energy is reimagining nuclear’s role in

solving tomorrow’s energy challenges

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 2

Dr. Kam GhaffarianFounder/CEO

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Our Xe-100 Strategy

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 3

• Be First to Market – Leverage U.S. government (~$500M) and

strategic partners to bring Xe-100 to the market by 2030

– July 1, 2016 began 5-year, $53M cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy

• Leverage Existing Knowledge – License existing HTGR technology where

possible (subsystems, components, fuel)– Leverage past lessons learned (South Africa,

Germany)

• Maintain Simple Product Design– Technically simple to design and operate– Lowest possible plant/operational cost

• Keep LCOE Competitive with Other Fuel Sources

– Natural gas combustion turbines– Traditional nuclear– Coal

• Obtain NRC Design Certification (“Gold Standard”)

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Xe-100 $84/MWh

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Levelized Cost and Levelized Avoided Cost of New Generation Resources in the Annual Energy Outlook 2016, August 2016. The X-energy plant LCOE is based on internal estimates. General EIA assumptions: WACC 5.6%; 30-year cost recovery period.

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Innovating on a Proven Foundation

1944ORNL

USA

1966-1975Dragon

UK

1966-1974Peach Bottom

USA

1967-1988AVR

Germany

1967-1988Fort St. Vrain

USA

1986-1989THTR

Germany

1998-PresentHTTR

Japan

2000-PresentHTR-10

China

USA

The Xe-100 is a revolutionary design for a nuclear

reactor that builds on over 70 years of research,

testing, and demonstration

Extensive testing of reactor core and pebbles to temperatures, pressures and failure modes have validated the safety performance of High

Temperature Gas-Cooled Nuclear Reactors (HTGRs)

2005 – Present

USA

4

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 5

HTGR Innovation Model

X-energy Products MUST balance the

following characteristics:Economics• Economically competitive with nuclear and coal• Energy output scalable by adding reactor modules

Licensing• Licensable in North America• Fuel produced in accordance with a U.S. NRC

license

Technology

• Produce electricity and/or process steam• Intrinsically safe (meltdown proof)• Capable of operating on and off the electric grid• Use proven technologies• Operational design life of 60 years• Designed to use Low Enriched Uranium• Capable of using advanced fuel cycles

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Xe-100: Features and Benefits

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 6

Attributes for Deployment

Safety Meltdown-proof, secure design and proliferation resistant

Broad Market Applicability

Can generate electricity, process heat or both

OperationsLoad following capable (power range of 100-40-100%), on-line refueling, does not require water for reactor cooling

WasteSpent fuel encapsulated in graphite pebbles, automatically packed into casks for on-site storage; no active cooling required

First advanced reactor to market

Technical Readiness

Leveraging HTGR pebble bed operational heritage enables most mature concept for licensing

LicensingDOE’s $500M investment through the NGNP and AGR programs included NRC engagement and review

EconomicsFewer safety systems, simple technology yielding reduced construction time/cost and lower operational complexity

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Technology

● The Xe-100 is a 200MWth/76MWe helium cooled power plant that features a 15.5% LEU fuel cycle

● Small size and modular construction result in relatively low cost – single reactor plant of <$1B, expandable to 8 reactors on plant site

● All components sized to maintain road transportability to reach remote locations and maximize siting flexibility

STATUS

• Began Conceptual Design

• Conclude Concept Design by 2018

The Xe-100 Reactor

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 7

Xe-100 Reactor Specifications

Thermal Output

Steam Temperature

Steam Pressure

ElectricOutput

200MW 565oC 16.5MPa ~76MW

Control rods

Pressure vessel

Core barrel

Graphite bottomreflector

Graphite topreflector

Graphite sidereflector

Circulators

Steam collection manifold

Helical coil tubes (not shown)

Steam Generator

Reactor

Pebble bed

Feed water inletHelium Flow Path

~5 Meters

~23

Met

ers

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 8

Xe-100 Plant Layout

• Secure: underground reactor layout is possible• Scalable: allows for build-out based on power demand• Small: can be built on 13 acres of land and allows for grid independence• Safe: smaller EPZ allows for building close to existing infrastructure

Xe-100 “4-Pack” PlantIllustrative

Layout is not to scale

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

The Xe ARC15 project has three main thrusts– Further the Xe-100 HTGR pebble bed design– Establish pebble fuel manufacturing capability – Engage the NRC through white papers and topical reports

Major accomplishments (July-March)– Fabrication of uranium oxycarbide (UCO) kernels– Tri-Structrual (TRISO) coating of particles– Installation of key fuel processing equipment– Fabrication of first fuel pebble– Establishment of advanced fuel characterization techniques– Development of unique mechanistic source term codes– Implementation of a plant level engineering analysis

software toolsetProgress toward milestones/deliverables

– Six (6) deliverables submitted to date, all on-time– First submittal in August 2016– On track for two remaining deliverables

X-energy Progress on DOE’s ARC

First X-energy Pebble (Fall 2016)

Advanced Fuel Fabrication Equipment Installed

Uranium Oxycarbide Kernel Fabrication

Surrogate TRISOParticle Production

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved Nuclear Energy. Reimagined. 9

X-energy Leveraging a Proven Team

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved Nuclear Energy. Reimagined. 10

5-year, $53M cost-share Cooperative Agreement

National Labs receive 40%

Corvallis, OR

Idaho Falls, ID

Huntsville, AL

Oak Ridge, TN

Lynchburg, VA

Greenbelt, MD

Charlotte, NC

Potential Customers

X-energy has identified three market segments with requirements that are aligned with the Xe-100’s unique benefits:

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 11

GovernmentIndustrial/CommercialUtilities

Compact, ultra-safe generation capacity that will replace retiring coal-fired power plants in line with federal mandates

Nuclear power that can support high-temperature industrial and commercial applications for the first time

On-base, grid-dependent power source that achieves resilience and energy security while supporting federal emissions reduction goals

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Building Partners Towards Deployment

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 12Nuclear Energy. Reimagined

DOE ARC Partners Customer Advisory Committee

Strategic Industrial Partners

HTR-PM Construction Site

Global Competition is Increasing on HTGRs

13Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

China’s HTR-PM plant is being constructed today to begin

operations in 2018

“This technology is going to be on the world market within the next five years,” said Zhang Zuoyi, director

of the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Technology Review reported.

“We are developing these reactors to belong to the world.”

Pressure VesselDelivery & Installation

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 14Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Advanced Nuclear ReactorsDevelopment to Deployment Cycle

<$10 M

$10s M

$100s –$700 M

$1-3 B

Technical Maturity

Initial ConceptEarly testing Technology validation

Prototype Reactor (FOAK)

Financial Tools Government Grants Government GrantsDOE Loan GuaranteeInvestment Tax Credit

Production Tax Credits

Legislation NICMA NEIMA

DOE Programs GAIN

SMR TechnicalLicensing (NuScalemodel)

Time 10 – 15 years

NRC DC License

15

Congressional Support for Advanced Reactors Grows

The Senate vote to add Advanced Reactor Capabilities bill to the Senate energy policy bill passed 87-4

Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved

● Prior Government Investments

– DOE/NGNP investments (>$500M) for TRISO fuel and graphite qualifications

● Reactor Development Challenges

– DOE Advanced Reactor Cooperative Agreement is a great start - needs full 5-year funding

– G.A.I.N. Program could provide some facilities and modeling and simulation

– Public-Private Partnership beyond current Cooperative Agreement is crucial to continue development through detailed design

■ DOE funding needed for NRC pre-application and engineering design to support advanced reactor licensing (similar to current SMR Licensing Technical Support provided to SMRs)

– Incentives (e.g. investment tax credits) to “level the playing field” with renewables & other clean energy (after FY2020)

● Recommended Regulatory Improvements

‒ NRC licensing process needs tailoring for new technologies and concepts (non-LWRs)

‒ High cost of NRC engagements and pre-application and application reviews are expensive, particularly for the new, smaller nuclear innovators

‒ Need to begin fuel qualification ASAP – this is the critical path to deployment

© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved 16Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.

Bridging the Gap to Commercial Operations

Contact Information

X Energy, LLC7701 Greenbelt Road, Suite 320

Greenbelt, MD 20770Phone: 301.358.5600

www.x-energy.com@xenergynuclear

17© 2017 X Energy, LLC, all rights reserved Nuclear Energy. Reimagined.