US company Last Energy has announced the installation of a pilot microreactor at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus, an applied research and technology facility in Bryan, Texas. The project, fully financed with private capital, will use the PWR-5 model—a 5-megawatt scaled version of its commercial PWR-20 reactor. It will first demonstrate safe low-power operations before entering a later phase aimed at grid electricity generation.
Backed by Washington and ready for deployment
The reactor is part of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to accelerate testing and authorisation of advanced reactor technologies outside the national laboratory system. The agreement signed between Last Energy and the DOE falls under the Other Transaction Agreement framework, designed to support non-traditional technology partnerships. The developer has already secured a full core load of nuclear fuel and initiated regulatory licensing procedures.
This microreactor will be the company’s first installation in the United States. Last Energy, which relocated its headquarters to Austin in May, has obtained a lease at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus and plans to use the site as a showcase for its standardised modular model. The PWR-20 system, from which the pilot reactor is derived, is designed for assembly in under 24 months at private industrial sites.
University ecosystem focused on SMRs
The Texas A&M University System had previously signed agreements in February with four other Small Modular Reactor (SMR) developers, including Kairos Power, Natura Resources, Terrestrial Energy, and Aalo Atomics. Land has been allocated to these companies on the RELLIS campus, with a combined electrical output potential of over one gigawatt. An application for an Early Site Permit is underway with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Last Energy had earlier revealed in October a plan to build four microreactor power plants at the decommissioned Llynfi coal-fired plant site in Wales. In July, the company announced its PWR-20 model had successfully completed a Preliminary Design Review by UK nuclear safety authorities and is on track for a site licence decision by December 2027.
