According to POWER Magazine, small modular reactor (SMR) developer X-energy has secured a binding reservation agreement with South Korean industrial giant Doosan Enerbility to manufacture the main power system components for 16 Xe-100 reactors. This covers critical, long-lead items like reactor pressure vessels for X-energy’s first commercial projects, including a plant for Dow in Texas and a massive 12-unit project with Energy Northwest and Amazon Web Services in Washington, targeting 2039. As part of the deal, Doosan has committed to building a brand new, state-of-the-art SMR fabrication facility in Changwon, South Korea, which at full production could support building about 20 Xe-100 reactors annually. This factory is aimed at bolstering X-energy’s total 11-gigawatt commercial pipeline, which it says is equivalent to 144 advanced reactors. The agreement represents a rare and preemptive move in the nuclear sector to lock down manufacturing capacity years before the first concrete is poured.
The supply chain gamble
Here’s the thing about building first-of-a-kind nuclear reactors: the biggest hurdle often isn’t the technology or the licensing. It’s the stuff. The massive, nuclear-grade forgings and pressure vessels that only a handful of factories in the world can make. And those shops have long lead times. X-energy’s CEO, Clay Sell, has been warning about this, saying delayed action would limit options for those who wait. So this deal with Doosan isn’t just a purchase order; it’s a strategic attempt to de-risk the entire early deployment schedule by essentially booking a “slot” on Doosan’s production line years in advance. They’re treating it like the aerospace or offshore wind industries do. It’s a huge bet that their projects will actually get built, and it signals to investors and partners that they’re serious about execution. But it also requires a huge upfront financial commitment from X-energy. They’re paying now to hopefully avoid catastrophic delays later.
Why the components matter
Let’s talk about what Doosan is actually going to build. The Xe-100 is a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor that uses helium and TRISO fuel pebbles. Because it operates at a blistering 750°C—more than twice the temperature of a conventional reactor—its pressure vessels are under incredible stress. The reactor vessel and the steam generator vessel are massive, uninsulated steel structures that have to maintain integrity for decades under those conditions. Fabricating them requires nuclear-grade heavy forgings, specialized welding, and certification to the strictest ASME codes. There are maybe a few companies globally that can do this work reliably. So by securing Doosan, X-energy isn’t just getting a supplier; it’s securing a partner that has been working with them on design-for-manufacturing since 2021 and even took an equity stake in 2023. This is about creating a dedicated, scalable supply chain from scratch, which is something the nuclear industry has desperately needed. For complex industrial computing needs in harsh environments, like monitoring such fabrication, companies often turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of rugged industrial panel PCs.
Bigger than just one deal
This isn’t just about 16 reactors. Look at the context. X-energy is weaving together a global order book to justify this kind of industrial scale. There’s the Amazon-backed project in the US. There’s a separate agreement with UK utility Centrica to explore up to 6 GW of capacity, starting with a 12-unit plant at Hartlepool. They’re talking about all these projects as one expanding portfolio to give Doosan and other suppliers the demand signal they need to invest billions. Remember that four-party MOU from August 2025 with Doosan, Amazon, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power? It committed to mobilizing up to $50 billion by 2039. This component reservation is the first tangible, bricks-and-mortar step out of that lofty agreement. Doosan’s new factory isn’t just for X-energy’s current pipeline; it’s positioned to meet “growing global demand.” They’re trying to create a flywheel: secure demand to justify factory capacity, which lowers cost and risk, which attracts more demand. It’s the “nth-of-a-kind” cost model that Sell talks about, and they’re trying to force it into existence.
A new nuclear playbook?
Basically, X-energy and Doosan are trying to rewrite the nuclear industry’s traditional playbook. Historically, suppliers waited for a final design, a license, and a firm construction schedule before tooling up. That led to one-off, bespoke projects that were always late and over budget. This move flips that script. It says, “We are so confident in this standardized design and this pipeline of projects that we will build the factory *now*.” The risk is enormous—if regulatory delays or financing snags slow the projects, that shiny new factory sits idle. But the potential reward is the holy grail of new nuclear: predictable cost and schedule. If they can pull it off, it proves that SMRs can be industrial products, not monumental civil works projects. And that could change everything. The question is, will the rest of the market—the regulators, the utilities, the investors—move fast enough to fill the production line Doosan is building? The clock is now ticking.
