Blue Energy Submits Construction Permit Application to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Advance Texas Gas-to-Nuclear Project

Blue Energy announced that it has submitted Part One of its construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its first gas-to-nuclear project at Port Victoria, Texas. This milestone move makes Blue Energy one of only five nuclear energy companies to have submitted a construction permit application to the NRC in the current new wave of nuclear power development.

Blue Energy employs the “Blue Way” of prefabricated and standardized construction, transport, and assembly of nuclear power plants. Compared with traditional nuclear power projects, this model can shorten project commissioning time by more than a decade and significantly reduce costs and construction risks. With the final investment decision expected to be made in 2027, the project plans to deploy GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas turbines and GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) to create a first-of-its-kind gas-to-nuclear hybrid power plant. GE Vernova Hitachi provided key information support to Blue Energy in this application.

This broad-ranging technical application document was jointly prepared by a regulatory team with cumulative experience of more than 80 years in NRC licensing applications, together with experts from multiple fields including engineering, finance, and environment. Notably, only five months have passed since the company announced the selection of BWRX-300 as its reactor technology pathway, and such efficient progress fully demonstrates Blue Energy's strength in licensing approval and technology development. In accordance with the NRC's regulatory requirement to obtain a full year of site-specific environmental data, the second part of the license application is expected to be submitted in the second half of 2027.

Blue Energy Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Jake Jurewicz said that this is tangible work carried out by a professional team for a major project, and also a key step toward building the world's first gas-to-nuclear power plant and validating the safest, fastest, and most scalable way to build nuclear power. The company's team prepared this forward-looking application document in an extremely short period of time, and looks forward to successfully completing the licensing process to realize the world's first nuclear power product using a project finance model.

The application document submitted to the NRC mainly targets the first nuclear unit at the Texas site and contains several key requests. First is a request to conduct limited initial construction activities, including deep foundation and shaft construction for siting the first small modular reactor. Second is a request for approval of its unique construction plan——namely, building the natural gas power generation portion and the balance of plant (BOP) first, and subsequently having these auxiliary facilities shared by the nuclear reactor. The NRC had previously approved this efficient deployment roadmap for the “Blue Bridge” gas-to-nuclear approach. In addition, the application includes an environmental report of nearly 300 pages confirming that construction of the natural gas portion will not cause significant impacts on endangered species, indigenous lands, or other historical environments, and detailing a project finance model that does not rely on taxpayers to foot the bill.

This application continues Blue Energy's strong momentum over the past year. In December 2025, the NRC approved Blue Energy's licensing topical report, providing a regulatory basis for its innovative model of adjusting the sequence of major phases of nuclear power plant construction. On the funding side, the company has raised more than $400 million in financing, with investment from multiple strategic institutions including Constellation Technology Ventures. At the same time, Blue Energy has also signed a “project acceleration agreement” with GE Vernova and GE Vernova Hitachi, and this month engaged Societe Generale to plan and arrange the project financing structure for its Victoria, Texas pilot project.