US firm to get highly concentrated nuclear fuel for demonstration reactor Hermes

Kairos Power, an Alameda-based nuclear energy company, has secured an allocation of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fuel its Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor (Hermes 1) under construction in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. HALEU, enriched between 5% and 20% U-235, is essential for most advanced U.S. reactors, enabling smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and improved fuel efficiency. This allocation supports Kairos Power’s efforts to demonstrate its advanced reactor technology and advance toward affordable, scalable nuclear power. The company will use the HALEU to produce TRISO fuel pebbles for Hermes 1 in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, leveraging manufacturing processes developed in Kairos Power’s labs. Hermes 1 is notable as the first non-light-water reactor approved for construction by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Groundbreaking occurred in July 2024, with