Kairos Power Begins Nuclear Safety-Related Construction of Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE KAIROS POWER BEGINS NUCLEAR SAFETY-RELATED CONSTRUCTION OF HERMES LOW-POWER DEMONSTRATION REACTOR OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – May 8, 2025 – Kairos Power has completed the first installation of nuclear safety-related concrete for the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor, marking the start of “nuclear construction” on the project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Hermes is a scaled demonstration of Kairos Power’s fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor technology and is the first advanced nuclear reactor to receive a construction permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Kairos Power first broke ground at the Hermes site in July 2024 and completed excavation in October. Safety-related construction activities, which are subject to oversight by the NRC and can only be performed with a construction permit, started on May 1 with a focus on the building’s foundation. To ensure structural soundness, Hermes will have 51 six-foot-diameter drilled piers extending approximately 40 feet below grade to anchor the building to bedrock. The first safety-related concrete pour was the culmination of several months of preparation. Two earlier projects at the Oak Ridge site served as proving grounds to test the drilled pier installation process and refine Kairos Power’s nuclear quality assurance program. The construction team, led by...

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