Texas partnership to investigate MSR deployment

TXPWC was established by the Texas legislature in 2021 to focus on the potential for beneficial uses of treated produced water outside the oil and gas industry of the Permian basin (produced water is water that is produced as a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, and is typically salty or brackish as well as containing hydrocarbon residues). With administrative oversight from Texas Tech University, in coordination with the Government Agency Advisory Council and the Stakeholder Advisory Council, the consortium is specifically tasked with providing the legislature and state agencies guidance and recommendations on policies that could encourage a system of beneficial use that is both environmentally safe and economically viable.

Affordable, reliable energy is a critical component of the economics of any water treatment process, so having access to a commercialised molten salt reactor in remote areas of the state could be a "major breakthrough" in making the treatment of new sources of water economically feasible, as well as supplying Texans with additional electric generation capacity at a crucial time in the state’s history, Natura said.

Natura is working to commercialise the LF-MSR. Its first reactor - a 1 MWt molten salt research reactor (MSRR) - is to be built at Abilene Christian University's (ACU) campus in Abilene, Texas, as part of the Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) laboratory. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently reviewing the university's application for a construction permit, which was submitted in August 2022. In June, the regulator told ACU that it expects to complete the safety assessment and issue the construction permit for the reactor by 30 September.

The reactor is the first liquid-fuelled molten salt reactor design ever reviewed by the NRC.

"We are proud to partner with the Texas Produced Water Consortium and excited for the opportunities that this Fortifying the Future partnership presents," said Doug Robison, Founder and President of Natura Resources. “Natura has deep-seated roots in the Permian Basin oil and gas industry, and we are thrilled at the opportunity to bring our molten salt reactor technology to the Permian to meet the critical needs for both energy and water."