ZettaJoule, Inc., an advanced small modular reactor company, today announced it has received formal support for its ZJ high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) project from Aramco Services Company, an affiliate of Motiva Enterprises, LLC, which operates the largest refinery by throughput in the United States.
ZettaJoule’s proposed ZJ research reactor is designed with the unique ability to produce process heat up to 950° C, which is 600° C higher than conventional water-cooled reactors. The first ZJ project will serve as a reference reactor for future commercial deployments.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Commerce, Aramco stated that federal backing of ZettaJoule’s reactor program would signal to the nuclear energy industry and the investment community that the company’s advanced small modular reactor (SMR) technology has merit and warrants accelerated commercial development.
“We are extremely pleased to receive Aramco’s endorsement and greatly encouraged by their recognition of the strong potential for our ZJ advanced SMRs to unlock new solutions for a wide range of industries,” ZettaJoule Co-Founder, President and CEO Mitsuo Shimofuji said.
“This is an exciting time for our company, and we are fully prepared to move the ZJ reactor project forward with support from government and private partners,” ZettaJoule Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Harper said. ZettaJoule’s ZJ reactor will be developed by modernizing proven, publicly available, safety-tested technology derived from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s HTTR, which began operating in 1998 and reached full power in 2001. Aramco stated it intends to remain engaged with ZettaJoule as it continues to develop its reactor technologies, while the oil and gas industry leader evaluates applications that can benefit its operations upstream and downstream.
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