Letter from the CEO

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Dear Friend,

I recently returned from New York Climate Week, where I was reminded of the shared sense of urgency across our industry. Speed to power remains a universal priority. But Climate Week reminds us that new energy development must be done responsibly, leveraging resources that are not just efficient to deploy, but also affordable, reliable, and sustainable.  

Kairos Power is working toward all these objectives as we participate in one of the largest build-outs of energy generation infrastructure the nation has ever seen.  

Still, the question remains: How will we deliver projects on time and on budget to meet the demands of this unprecedented era?  

We added another piece to that puzzle last week when we announced a new collaboration with Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group – an international leader in nuclear project delivery – to support the deployment of the Hermes 2 Plant and future reactors.  

Adding Samsung C&T to our integrated EPC team, alongside Barnard Construction and other partners, complements Kairos Power’s in-house capabilities, strengthens project execution, and helps us drive toward cost and schedule certainty.  

As we remain laser-focused on delivering Hermes 2, the team is systematically de-risking all aspects of the technology, manufacturing, construction, and operations required to make that project a success. That includes testing and refining the modular hardware at the heart of our reactor systems.  

Through our Engineering Test Unit (ETU) program, our team has designed, fabricated, and installed dozens of plant equipment modules comprising thousands of components, many now in their third or fourth iteration and manufactured primarily in-house.  

We’ve gained a new appreciation for the challenges of modular plant construction as ETU 2 and ETU 3 progressed in parallel this summer. While modularity is a common practice in the oil, gas, and chemical industries, designing modular systems to support nuclear safety functions presents unique challenges that we are addressing in real time through our iterative testing process.  

These tangible lessons directly inform our approach to building Hermes 2 and future reactors in a standardized, repeatable way.  

With the right partners by our side and a disciplined delivery model, we are well positioned to achieve that objective.  

Cheers,

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Kairos Power and Samsung C&T Agree to Pursue Strategic Investment and Collaboration

This month, Kairos Power and Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group announced a new collaboration to enable the commercial deployment of Kairos Power reactors.

Samsung C&T has agreed to provide up to $100 million through a combination of direct investment and in-kind engineering services, subject to regulatory approvals, and will join Kairos Power’s integrated engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) team to support the delivery of Hermes 2 and future plants.  

Kairos Power will lead reactor technology, engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and construction for the nuclear island, while Samsung C&T will support technical and execution readiness of power-generation systems and balance-of-plant.

“Deploying advanced nuclear energy at commercial scale requires strong, capable partners across the full project lifecycle,” said Ed Blandford, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Kairos Power. “Our integrated EPC team brings together the complementary technology, engineering, manufacturing, and project-delivery capabilities needed to advance Hermes 2 and establish a foundation for broad deployment of our technology."

WATCH: Co-founders Mike Laufer and Ed Blandford explain what the Samsung C&T collaboration means for Kairos Power

Putting the “Modular” in Small Modular Reactors

After a busy summer of building, the Kairos Power team installed the final plant equipment skid in our second non-nuclear Engineering Test Unit (ETU 2).

ETU 2 comprises more than 30 transportable skids and is our first fully modular reactor-scale hardware system. It is directly informing our modular approach to building advanced reactors at scale, starting with the Hermes 2 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Kairos Power is using ETU 2 to gain practical experience designing, fabricating, transporting, installing, and integrating reactor-scale modules.

Each module comprises one or more plant equipment skids that serve a defined system or function. The skids are designed for transport by truck or rail so they can be built in a factory and shipped to the site for installation.

Read our blog post to learn how we are turning modular design into real hardware – and how those lessons improve construction readiness for future reactors.

WATCH: Learn how to build a modular reactor from a Kairos Power engineer

Piloting Precast Construction and Remote Maintenance

Kairos Power has completed the first phase of the ETU 3 hardware demonstration in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, advancing precast concrete shielding designs and testing remote handling and maintenance capabilities to support the Hermes 2 Plant and our future commercial fleet.

To meet this milestone, our cross-functional team worked with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Barnard Construction, and Tindall Corporation to build a reduced-scale mockup of the Hermes 2 reactor cavity. The mockup combines a reactor vessel with modular precast concrete shielding supported by steel frames, enabling engineers to evaluate technologies rapidly in a nonhazardous environment.  

The mockup is being used to test shielding plug designs that allow process lines to pass through the concrete structures. Robotic arms mounted above the cavity are designed to connect and disconnect process lines without human entry into the enclosure, supporting online maintenance and reducing operating costs for the fleet.  

In the coming months, ETU 3 will undergo subsequent iterations to demonstrate additional aspects of maintenance and equipment replacement. In its final form, the mockup will serve as a training platform for future plant operators.

WATCH: See how Kairos Power is testing modular shielding and robotic tools to support plant maintenance

Strengthening Nuclear Manufacturing, Construction, and Workforce Development

On August 18^th, Kairos Power launched the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast (NuCAMP), an initiative focused on maturing new manufacturing and construction methods and developing vocational training for skilled workers in East Tennessee to support advanced reactor deployment.

The collaboration brings together industry, research, and education partners to develop programs to qualify advanced manufacturing and construction methods for nuclear applications, such as precast concrete, additive manufacturing, and advanced welding. The partners will also work together to create career pathways for engineers and skilled tradespeople to put those methods into practice.  

Under a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Kairos Power will lead the initiative in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Barnard Construction, Roane State Community College, Chattanooga State Community College, and Oak Ridge Schools.

Samsung C&T and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering are exploring opportunities to collaborate on NuCAMP in an advisory capacity.

The signing took place at the Kairos Power-hosted Advanced Manufacturing Showcase at our Oak Ridge, Tennessee campus. Over 75 guests from the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, industry partners, and the local community were in attendance.  

“To deliver affordable advanced reactors at scale, we need innovative manufacturing processes, the code basis to qualify them, and people with the right skills to apply them in building new nuclear facilities,” said Ed Blandford, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Kairos Power. “By combining industry perspectives with the R&D power of our national labs and the strengths of our academic partners through NuCAMP, we can create new capabilities that will benefit the entire Tennessee nuclear community and the broader industry at large.”

Advancing Fuel Manufacturing in Albuquerque

This summer, Kairos Power produced our 60,000th surrogate annular graphite fuel pebble after expanding and automating in-house production capabilities at our Albuquerque Manufacturing Development Campus. These surrogates will be used in the ETU 2 demonstration and additional test campaigns to validate the mechanical performance of fuel pebbles and their handling systems.

This achievement built on lessons from ETU 1, for which we previously manufactured 30,000 pebbles using manual processes. Automating pebble fabrication tripled production efficiency while achieving a more complex annular pebble design.  

Our Fuels team is already applying new lessons learned from the campaign to optimize commercial nuclear fuel manufacturing systems, reducing their footprint, increasing modularity, and further enhancing automation to develop a scalable fuel supply chain for our advanced reactors.  

Meeting Community in the Cowboy State

In July, Kairos Power joined BWXT for a public information session to share how the companies are collaborating in support of a proposed fuel fabrication facility in Gillette, WY. More than 200 community members attended the event at the Gillette College Technical Education Center for a poster session and presentation to learn about our companies and engage with subject matter experts.

More than a dozen BWXT employees are currently working alongside Kairos Power engineers at our labs in Albuquerque to advance TRISO fuel manufacturing processes.

We look forward to continued community engagement as we work with BWXT to create a scalable, commercially viable TRISO fuel supply for the advanced reactor industry.

News In Brief

Ignacio Redondo Named CFO

Kairos Power is pleased to welcome Ignacio (Nacho) Redondo as Chief Financial Officer, marking an important step as we build the financial infrastructure to support our continued growth and expansion. Redondo brings 27 years of finance experience in energy sectors across multiple continents, with extensive experience in capital markets, project finance, manufacturing, and financial operations. He will lead Kairos Power’s finance efforts as we continue to expand our operations and advance our technology toward commercial deployment.

Dr. Mike McGuire Named VP of Operations and Site Delivery

Kairos Power has appointed Dr. Mike McGuire to serve as Vice President of Operations and Site Delivery. Dr. McGuire will join the Kairos Power team in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he will lead delivery of project milestones for the Hermes 2 Plant and support future commercial deployments as the company expands.

Responsible reuse at the Hermes 2 site

WATCH: Construction teams remove legacy artifacts from the Hermes 2 footprint to prepare for site excavation

Kairos Power is coordinating with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Barnard Construction, and Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) to remove and recycle legacy lead and copper at the Hermes 2 site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The materials are remnants of the power distribution systems that were part of the K-33 uranium enrichment facility that previously occupied the site. To date, roughly 70,000 lbs of lead and copper have been removed from the K-33 footprint and recycled.

Advancements in Fuel Performance Modeling

Kairos Power has completed verification and validation of KP-BISON, a fuel performance code that models the behavior and integrity of TRISO fuel particles during reactor operations. The Kairos team tailored the BISON code developed by Idaho National Laboratory to assess how TRISO particles perform under the unique stressors inside our fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR). We will submit the final reports to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to support our fuel safety case for licensing future Kairos Power reactors. If approved, KP-BISON would be the first application for modeling TRISO fuel performance in a molten salt reactor.

Delivering Quality

Kairos Power’s Alameda, Calif., headquarters has received ISO 9001:2015 certification – joining our Albuquerque facility as the second Kairos Power manufacturing location to become ISO-certified. Our Alameda manufacturing shop supports rapid prototyping for research and development, along with component manufacturing for larger hardware demonstrations, including ETU. The ISO 9001:2015 certification provides a foundation for Kairos Power’s quality management system and will enable continuous improvement in parts manufacturing.

Breaking New Ground

Kairos Power was honored to receive the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Groundbreaker Award at the Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo in Dallas, TX, in September. The Groundbreaker Awards recognize nuclear companies making significant progress toward the commercial deployment of advanced nuclear technologies. Kairos Power has achieved significant milestones across the Hermes reactor program in recent years, reflecting the discipline and dedication of our entire mission-driven team.

Careers

This summer, Kairos Power made the New Mexico Top Workplaces list for the fifth year in a row, ranking #1 in the large companies category!

Kairos Power’s Bay Area office was also recognized for the fifth straight year.  

These results are based on anonymous employee feedback and are a testament to the strong work culture we’ve built across the company.  

Come join our growing team and help us build the future of nuclear energy. Visit our Careers page to explore current opportunities.  

WATCH: Engineer Kyle Becker shares his experience developing innovative fuel handling systems for Kairos Power reactors

Until Next Time

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube to follow our progress!

What We’re Reading:

Kairos Power gets up to $100M from Samsung group to build nuclear reactor for Google – TechCrunch

Utilities eye small modular nuclear reactors for reliability as hyperscalers drive demand – Utility Dive

‘Creating a blueprint’: Kairos Power, ORNL to train workers for nuclear renaissance – WATE News

Scaled reactor prototype helps refine construction and maintenance before full build – Interesting Engineering

With site chosen, BWXT advances $500M nuclear fuel plant project in Gillette – County 17