Fermi America has hit a significant milestone for Project Matador, its advanced energy and intelligence campus in Carson County, Texas. The U.S. NRC has issued a Federal Register notice for the draft environmental review of the four planned Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the site.

In that notice, the NRC staff has issued a preliminary recommendation in favor of the project’s combined licenses, subject to the completion of the required safety review.

An Energy Project of Great Scale

Rendering of Fermi America’s full energy and AI campus; Photo: Fermi America

Getting the federal reviews done can take years, but this notice only took 15 months after Fermi America submitted its application. All things considered, that’s pretty good progress through a complicated federal process.

Final approval is still in the distant future. For example, the project still has to complete the final environmental review, the final safety evaluation, and a final Commission vote. For now, the preliminary recommendation is a promising step forward.

In its announcement Fermi America stated, “the preliminary recommendation represents continued progress towards the project’s long term nuclear energy objectives”.

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Nuclear power is fundamental to the scale of Project Matador. As the company states, “Nuclear generation is a key component of Project Matador’s planned 17 gigawatt private energy infrastructure, which is intended to power next generation AI and high performance computing.”

The project combines natural gas, solar, and battery energy storage to provide 24/7 availability.

Industry Partners and Team Effort

An energy project of this size requires major teamwork. Fermi America acknowledged the NRC review team for their diligent work throughout the review process. Also, it cited several key industry partners, including Westinghouse Electric Company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Preferred Licensing Services, and ENERCON.

Within the company, the internal nuclear development team, led by Mesut Uzman and including Sezin Uzman, Andrew Bryant, and Dannie Weaver, has been credited with advancing the project to this stage.

Looking ahead, Fermi America is focused on the regulatory steps needed to build out the energy infrastructure.