Dow wins nuclear construction permit for Texas factory steam
Four planned reactors would supply heat and electricity at Seadrift. Dow’s investment decision and a separate operating license remain ahead.
Published November 13, 2026Intelligence / Energy / Next-Gen Nuclear
Dow has won federal permission to build four small nuclear reactors at its Seadrift, Texas, manufacturing site. The proposed plant would supply the steam that helps run the industrial complex, alongside electricity, as Dow considers replacing aging energy equipment.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued the construction permit for Long Mott Generating Station on November 9. Dow subsidiary Long Mott Energy is developing the project with reactor designer X-energy. The NRC says industrial steam would be its main output, with surplus electricity supplied to the grid.
That gives the proposal a role beyond electricity generation: delivering heat directly to a factory. Supplying both services would connect the reactor project closely to the manufacturing site's everyday energy needs.
Dow’s decision to proceed still depends on engineering, design work and board review. The company says construction could begin later in the 2020s, with startup in the early 2030s, if it approves the project.
How the reactors would supply heat
X-energy’s Xe-100 design uses helium gas to carry heat from the reactor core to a steam generator. Heat passes through metal tubing into a separate water circuit, turning the water into steam. The steam can serve industrial processes or drive a turbine that generates electricity.
The fuel is arranged in spherical pebbles containing tiny uranium particles enclosed in protective ceramic layers. The design allows fuel to move through the core and be replenished during operation.
X-energy rates each reactor at 200 megawatts of heat output, or up to 80 megawatts of electricity when that heat is used for power generation. It specifies steam temperatures of about 565°C. These are design ratings; the output allocated to industrial steam and electricity depends on how the plant is configured and operated.
The NRC describes Long Mott as its first approval of a multimodule advanced-reactor facility and its first design approval involving a pebble-bed core and online refueling. A separate NRC operating license will be required before fuel loading or reactor operation.
The investment decision ahead
For Dow, the project must fit the finances and operating requirements of an established manufacturing business. Edward Stones, its business vice president for Energy & Climate, said the company would assess “competitiveness, execution readiness, and capital affordability” before deciding on construction.
Dow’s investment decision comes next. Construction would then have to turn the permitted design into a dependable source of steam and power, followed by the licensing needed to operate it.