Kairos Power today announced the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast (NuCAMP), an initiative focused on maturing new manufacturing and construction methods and developing vocational training for skilled workers in East Tennessee to support the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors.
Under a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Kairos Power will lead the initiative in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Barnard Construction, Roane State Community College, Chattanooga State Community College, and Oak Ridge Schools.
In addition, Kairos Power and international collaborators Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering are exploring opportunities to collaborate on the NuCAMP initiative by providing strategic advisory services in advanced manufacturing and construction.
The organizations have agreed to an initial 12-month exploration phase to determine how they can best work together to develop programs to qualify advanced manufacturing and construction methods for nuclear applications and create career pathways for engineers and skilled tradespeople to put those methods into practice.
“Delivering affordable advanced reactors at scale will require more than a strong design. We need innovative manufacturing processes, the code basis to qualify them, and people with the right skills to apply them in building new nuclear facilities,” said Ed Blandford, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Kairos Power. “By combining industry perspectives with the R&D power of our national labs and the strengths of our academic partners through NuCAMP, we can create new capabilities that will benefit the entire Tennessee nuclear community and the broader industry at large.”