As the high-temperature, fluoride salt-cooled reactor facilities of Kairos Power in Oak Ridge, Tenn., take shape, the company is working with a number of groups across the region so as to train the local workforce for new nuclear career opportunities.
It is worth noting that Kairos has signed an MOU with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation – IACMI, the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, Barnard Construction, Roane State Community College, and Chattanooga State Community College, as well as Oak Ridge Schools, in order to establish the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast – NuCAMP.
NuCAMP will be held at the Kairos Reactor Demonstration Campus, which will include manufacturing development, employee training, and collaboration facilities, the company says. The facilities will include space for precast concrete production, conventional assembling, welding, and additive manufacturing.
The parties have committed to a first 12-month exploration period to figure out the best path forward, including what programs and career pathways ought to be assessed and established.
According to Ed Blandford, the cofounder and chief technology officer, “Delivering affordable advanced reactors at scale will require more than a strong design. 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. By combining industry perspectives with the R&D power of our national labs and the strengths of our academic partners through Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast, we can create new capabilities that will benefit the entire Tennessee nuclear community and the broader industry at large.”
Adds Stephen Streiffer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director, “Through DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility – MDF at ORNL and our broader research capabilities, we look forward to helping mature advanced manufacturing and construction methods for the nuclear industry while supporting the workforce needed to bring next-generation reactors to market.”
Creating the workforce – An example of the work proposed is the Kairos teaming with ORNL and the University of Tennessee as well as the IACMI so as to apply research, engineering, and manufacturing knowledge to establish technologies that could potentially be utilized in nuclear construction and fill any code gaps that hinder their use. Research opportunities could encompass precast concrete construction, wire arc additive manufacturing, and large-format additive manufacturing, as well as electron beam welding.
Interestingly, these methods have been explored by Kairos in the construction, testing, and manufacturing of its Hermes test reactors and facilities. For example, Kairos utilized precast concrete when it comes to shielding structures, 3D-printed large composite structures, and chosen electron beam welding over traditional arc welding in order to build its Engineering Test Unit 3 reactor vessel.
The University of Tennessee is reviewing two possible master’s degree programs in yet another partnership. One would be manufacturing engineering for nuclear construction in a factory, and the other would be precast concrete construction. Other postsecondary institutions, including community colleges such as Chattanooga State as well as Roane State, would look at adding specialized training for jobs such as nuclear pipe welding, precast production, and skid manufacturing.
Oak Ridge Schools will consider building on its sophisticated manufacturing and trades pathways at the middle school and high school levels in order to develop curiosity at a younger age.
Kairos also said it will partner with Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group along with Cambridge Vacuum Engineering so as to explore and offer strategic consulting services when it comes to advanced manufacturing and construction.