TX-1 clears its structural milestone as nuclear-fuel equipment installation moves forward

TRISO-X has completed vertical construction of its TX-1 fuel-fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, shifting the project toward interior work and manufacturing equipment. The company announced the milestone September 24, 2026.

The X-energy update describes the main structure as complete and identifies interior utilities, fuel-fabrication equipment and supporting facilities as the next work. Clark Construction remains the construction contractor, including work on an adjacent graphite-matrix-powder building.

The company expects eventual annual production of about 700,000 fuel pebbles, equivalent to five metric tons of uranium and enough capacity for up to 11 Xe-100 reactors. These are planned production capabilities, not current output.

A separate licensing milestone

The building work follows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of a 40-year special nuclear material license on February 13. In its February 25 account, the Department of Energy described the license as authorizing commercial production of fuel for advanced reactors.

DOE said building construction began in November 2025. Its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program provides up to 50% cost sharing for X-energy’s demonstration project, including TX-1. That program share should not be treated as a newly announced September contract award.

DOE’s February account anticipated fuel fabrication beginning in early 2028. The date belongs to that earlier forecast; the September structural update is evidence of construction progress, not confirmation that commercial production has begun.

The factory behind the reactor program

The project illustrates a dependency that can be obscured by attention to reactor sites. Deployment also requires facilities able to make the specified fuel at commercial scale. Progress on one part of that chain does not automatically establish readiness of every other part.

At TX-1, completion of the structure makes the remaining work more specific. Interior utilities, installed equipment and supporting production facilities must become an integrated operating system. The new milestone narrows the construction task but does not substitute for the work that follows.

That is why the license, the building structure and production readiness should be tracked as separate events. Each answers a different question about the project: authorization, physical delivery and operating capability.

The September 24 announcement advances the physical-delivery record. Future updates on installation, commissioning and demonstrated output will show how the facility moves from a completed shell toward its intended role in the advanced-reactor fuel supply chain.

Sources reviewed September 29, 2026. Historical site visit on February 22, 2023, before TX-1 construction. Photo: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CC BY 2.0. No editorial alterations; display versions may be resized or cropped.