A new nuclear power plant in Texas will be doing more than just generating non-carbon-polluting energy, according to Interesting Engineering.
A molten salt reactor at Abilene Christian University is being built by Natura Resources. The reactor will eventually run at 600 degrees Celsius and generate 250 megawatts of energy. The interesting wrinkle of this new plant, though, is how it uses waste heat.
Once operational, it will also have a desalination plant, turning wastewater into freshwater primarily to be used for irrigation purposes. This feature is being built in collaboration with the Texas Produced Water Consortium.
According to The Texas Tribune, the small reactors will be used "to purify oilfield wastewater, most of which is currently pumped underground for disposal." Water supply has been an issue for Texas, so every drop produced by the plant will be put to good use, as long as the purification process is safe enough to ensure no contaminants such as PFAS, which has been a problem in other uses of treated water for irrigation, as also reported on by the Tribune.
Nuclear power is a major potential provider of zero-carbon-dioxide-emission power. More than half of the Texas electrical grid is still powered by fossil fuels that highly pollute the air we breathe and the atmosphere above us, but momentum for cleaner energy has been increasing sharply.
The Texas grid is peculiar in that it's mostly enclosed. Every other state connects with some of its neighbors to balance supply and demand.
Since most of Texas doesn't do that, it doesn't have outside energy suppliers to depend on when demand spikes. Solar power has helped Texas maintain energy independence during these times, but improving nuclear capabilities will provide a strong and consistent baseline.
Nuclear power is still expensive, even if it's mitigated by modular reactors, which can be added incrementally over time. Disasters like Fukushima and Chernobyl have cast enough doubt among the public to at least partially influence Germany to close down all of its nuclear reactors, but this has served only to push the country to rely on dirty gas for power. Meanwhile, nuclear generation is poised to start rising in America to meet growing demand, particularly to support data centers.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says reactors like the one being built at ACU are additionally safe thanks to their inherent layout and failsafes. However, the Union of Concerned Scientists has generally opposed any forays into developing less-tested nuclear technology, specifically calling out molten salt reactors.
"When it comes to safety and security, sodium-cooled fast reactors and molten salt-fueled reactors are significantly worse than conventional light-water reactors," said Dr. Edwin Lyman, a physicist and director of nuclear power safety at the organization. "High-temperature, gas-cooled reactors may have the potential to be safer, but that remains unproven, and problems have come up during recent fuel safety tests."
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The possibility of meltdowns ☢️ Managing nuclear waste is a concern regardless, though it can often be reused as nuclear fuel, and molten salt reactors at least produce lower high-level waste.
Pending the approval of commercial licensing, the ACU reactor should go online sometime between 2026 and 2027. After that, the desalination plant will be added.
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