Major Announcement About New Reactor Project in Richland

One year ago today, Energy Northwest announced a partnership with Amazon and X-Energy to bring small modular reactors to the Columbia Basin.  Fast forward to the one year anniversary of that announcement and ENW has shared significant progress made on the field that will be sited near Energy Northwest's current generating station in Richland.

The nuclear energy producer released renderings of what the small modular reactor (SMR) field will look like upon completion.  They also announced the name of the project.  It is now known as the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility.  12 of the SMRs on the site will be funded by Amazon.

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Bob Schuetz, CEO of Energy Northwest, said with regard to today's announcement.

Today marks a pivotal step forward in bringing this transformative project to life.  We are proud to be at the forefront of deploying advanced nuclear technology in the region—driving next-generation solutions that strengthen energy security and position the Pacific Northwest as a clean energy leader.

In the year since the partnership was announced, Energy Northwest has been engaging with stakeholders, conducting environmental reviews, and completing other processes necessary in preparation for a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

That Isn't The Only Huge News Announced Today

Energy Northwest also announced the acquisition on an Energy Learning Center in collaboration with Columbia Basin College.  It will be located at Washington State University’s Institute for Northwest Energy Futures campus and will be funded with money from the Department of Energy's Community Capacity Building Grant Program.

Once completed the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility should generate 320 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free, reliable energy.  When it is fully built out it should have an output up to 960MW. It is also expected to create more than 1,000 temporary construction jobs during construction and over 100 permanent family-wage positions once the doors are fully opened.

Speaking of Construction and Completion...

When we told you yesterday about the Vit plant finally firing up, we shared the timeline from the awarding of the contract to the first glass rod being produced.  It isn't expected to take nearly that long for the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility to become operational.

The timeline is expected to be similar to what the Long Mott Generating Station project in Texas is on.  Both facilities are using the same reactor technology, which will be X-energy's Xe-100 reactors.  They expect construction in Richland to begin by the end of this decade with operation slated to begin in the 2030s.