TRISO-X
🇺🇸 US · Active
TRISO-X is the fuel subsidiary of X-energy. It makes TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) fuel: small uranium-bearing kernels are coated with layers of carbon and ceramic in a fluidised-bed chemical vapour deposition process, then pressed into pebbles or cylindrical compacts. Its fuel uses high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235. It runs a pilot production line at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Its commercial plant, TX-1, received a special nuclear material licence from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February 2026, and X-energy said in August 2026 that construction had moved to its next phase.
- Sector
- Fuel cycle
- Technology
- High-temperature gas-cooled reactor
- Role
- Supplier
Terms
- High-temperature gas-cooled reactor
- Helium-cooled and graphite-moderated, running far hotter than a water reactor. Fuel is TRISO particles, typically formed into pebbles or prismatic blocks, at LEU or HALEU enrichment depending on the design. The high outlet temperature suits industrial process heat as well as electricity.
- TRISO fuel
- Tri-structural isotropic fuel: fissile kernels in ceramic coatings that retain fission products at high temperature. The safety case for several advanced designs rests on it.