UT Part of Critical Nuclear Energy Milestone

The University of Texas at Austin is playing a pivotal role in developing the first new nuclear reactor in Texas in decades based on a novel technology that promises safer, more efficient nuclear energy.

The Natura Resources Research Alliance, a consortium that includes three other universities, received a construction permit for their new molten salt reactor, the Natura MSR-1, at Abilene Christian University (ACU). This marks the first time the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the construction of a liquid-fueled advanced reactor.

"The University of Texas at Austin is proud to have contributed to the successful effort to get a construction permit to build the first new nuclear reactor in Texas in over 30 years," said Derek Haas, associate professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering's Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program and leader of the UT team. "We are committed to supporting Natura with construction and installation of the reactor, obtaining an operating license, and startup and operation of the reactor at ACU."

The Natura MSR-1 reactor will be the first university-based molten salt research reactor. It will have a thermal power of 1 megawatt and operate at about 600 degrees Celsius. A molten salt reactor is different from a typical nuclear reactor because it uses liquid fuel as opposed to solid fuel.

Liquid fuel flows into the reactor core, where the uranium fissions to produce heat. In a commercial system, that heat then passes through a heat exchanger to produce electricity or other applications. Liquid fuel provides advantages in efficiency and safety, and the research reactor will produce valuable data supporting licensing future commercial reactors.

The UT team has been awarded $4.8 million by Natura Resources over the past four years for their part in the project. The University has participated in the design and safety analysis of the entire system, leveraging UT's experience licensing and operating a research reactor, reactor modeling tools, and high-performance computing. In addition to Haas, the UT team is co-led by professors Kevin Clarno and William Charlton.

Discovery to Impact, the technology commercialization and innovation hub at UT, manages Natura Resources' sponsored research and licensing agreement, and structures licensing agreements for new intellectual property that is developed from the research. The Cockrell School of Engineering's Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program dates back more than 60 years. The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory's TRIGA Mark II Nuclear Research Reactor, which is housed at UT's J.J. Pickle Research Campus, is one of only 31 research and test reactors in the United States. UT's research reactor is among the most active in the U.S., with capabilities in materials analysis, isotope production, radiochemistry, and instrumentation development.

The construction permit is only the second issued by the U.S. NRC for a next-generation reactor. The consortium began designing and licensing the reactor in 2020, progressing to the detailed engineering design with engineering firms Zachry Nuclear Engineering and Teledyne Brown Engineering. The effort has been funded and led by Abilene, Texas-based reactor developer Natura Resources, which has raised $78 million to date to deploy the reactor at Abilene Christian University.