Long-term graphite agreement strengthens X-energy supply chain

Wiesbaden, Germany, headquartered SGL has already begun production of graphite reactor components using its NBG-18 medium-grain isotropic graphite for the first deployment of the Xe-100 under the initial contract which is worth USD100 million over three years. The proposed four-unit plant at Dow Inc's Seadrift site on the Texas Gulf Coast is being supported by the US Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The companies have also signed an agreement to reserve capacity and develop production readiness for the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility with Energy Northwest in Washington state, a planned 12-unit Xe-100 plant and the first of a series of Amazon and X-energy projects targeting at least 5 GWe of new nuclear energy by 2039. Graphite production for this is expected to begin in the second half of 2026.

The Xe-100 is a based on based on HTGR (high temperature gas cooled reactor) technology, using TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) particle fuel to power an 80 MWe reactor that can be scaled into a 'four-pack' 320 MWe power plant. Fine-grain graphite is a critical component: the Xe-100 uses graphite as both a neutron moderator and structural component, enabling it to operate at high temperatures while maintaining exceptional safety characteristics.

SGL has a long history in supplying graphite into nuclear applications, and has collaborated with X-energy since 2015 on the qualification of NBG-18 graphite for use in the Xe-100, leveraging SGL's experience manufacturing graphite for HTGRs.

"Scaling new nuclear requires partners who know how to execute, and have done so time and again in the world's most demanding industries," X-energy CEO Clay Sell said. "SGL brings decades of innovation in aerospace, automotive, energy, and semiconductor applications, and we are thrilled to bring that depth of experience into the new nuclear sector."

SGL Carbon CEO Andreas Klein described work done in recent years by X-energy as "groundbreaking", adding that the company is proud to be part of the "success story" as the implementation phase begins. "This is a first milestone in the development of new applications for our products and SGL Carbon's entry into a strategically important market," he said.

The agreement with SGL is the most recent in a series of announcements as X-energy builds a portfolio of suppliers to support its commercial pipeline. These include agreements with Doosan Enerbility for steel manufacturing and capacity expansion, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power for fleet-scale deployment collaboration, and additional agreements for IG-110 fine-grain graphite.