U.S. Department of Energy to Provide HALEU for Hermes Demonstration Reactor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY TO PROVIDE HALEU FOR HERMES DEMONSTRATION REACTOR Allocated HALEU to support Hermes reactor startup and operation in Oak Ridge Washington, D.C., – January 20, 2026 – Kairos Power has finalized a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), sourced from DOE material, for the start-up and operation of the company’s Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor (Hermes 1), currently under construction in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Kairos Power was conditionally selected by DOE to receive HALEU earlier this year under the agency’s HALEU Availability Program and has successfully completed negotiations to secure the HALEU required for the Hermes 1 program. The company will use the material to produce HALEU TRISO fuel pebbles for Hermes 1 in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory, using manufacturing processes developed and optimized in Kairos Power labs. The Hermes 1 reactor and fuel fabrication program will provide crucial learning to enable the success of Kairos Power’s future commercial fleet. “We are pleased to secure the HALEU we need to demonstrate our technology with Hermes 1,” said Edward Blandford, Kairos Power Chief Technology Officer and co-founder. “The U.S. Department of Energy has been a vital...
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