Kairos Power Completes Second Round of Molten Salt Coolant Production

Recently, U.S.-based Kairos Power successfully completed its second round of lithium-beryllium fluoride salt (FLiBe) coolant production at its Molten Salt Purification Plant (MSPP) located in the Materion campus in Elmore, Ohio. The Molten Salt Purification Plant, built in collaboration between Kairos Power and Materion, is designed to produce high-purity nuclear-grade FLiBe molten salt at scale for its Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (KP-FHR) project, providing critical material support for upcoming engineering tests.

Kairos Power is accelerating construction of the “Hermes” (Hermes 1 and Hermes 2) advanced reactor demonstration projects at its Oak Ridge, Tennessee campus. These reactors employ KP-FHR technology, combining tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel pebbles with FLiBe molten salt coolant to achieve reliable inherent safety under atmospheric or low-pressure conditions. Among them, Hermes 1 focuses on validating the reliability of nuclear systems under real operating conditions, while Hermes 2 will supply clean electricity to the local grid, comprehensively advancing the commercialization deployment process.

To support the demonstration project construction, a series of Engineering Test Units (ETUs) have been deployed at the Manufacturing Development Campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Among them, ETU 1 has completed over 2,000 hours of pumped FLiBe molten salt operation; the newly produced FLiBe molten salt has undergone process upgrades and fully meets the stringent purity standards required for nuclear coolant applications. Kairos Power will combine the newly produced molten salt with the molten salt previously used in ETU 1, totaling approximately 16 tons, and ship it to Albuquerque for the ETU 2 test scheduled to begin in early 2027.

Molten Salt Team Engineer Paige Pierce noted that the team significantly improved production safety and efficiency by optimizing remote operation capabilities, refining planning tools, and enhancing safety monitoring mechanisms. Through continuous iteration with each production campaign, Kairos Power is continuously optimizing molten salt chemistry and reducing technical risks, accumulating valuable experience for the future establishment of larger-scale commercial Salt Production Facilities (SPF).