US-based Kairos Power has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast (NuCAMP) to support the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in East Tennessee. Under the MOU NuCAMP will focus on maturing new manufacturing and construction methods and developing vocational training for skilled workers.
The other signatories include 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 – South Korea’s Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group and UK-based Cambridge Vacuum Engineering – are exploring opportunities to collaborate on the NuCAMP initiative by providing strategic advisory services in advanced manufacturing and construction.
Kairos Power’s Reactor Demonstration Campus in Oak Ridge will host NuCAMP and provide facilities for manufacturing development, workforce training, and collaboration with nearby research and education partners. The campus includes space planned for precast production, equipment assembly, welding, and additive manufacturing.
The organisations have agreed to an initial 12-month exploration phase to determine how they can best work together to develop programmes 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.
Key focus areas include:
- Advanced construction methods: shifting toward modular, precast concrete designs to lower costs and speed up build times.
- Next-gen manufacturing: developing advanced welding techniques and additive manufacturing (3D printing) specifically for nuclear applications.
- Regional pipeline: creating clear vocational pathways for local students and tradespeople to build a robust domestic workforce.
NuCAMP will take a holistic approach to bringing promising manufacturing and construction methods to the US nuclear industry, incorporating the perspectives of research and development partners, workforce partners, and the companies actively building advanced reactor projects. Teams will explore opportunities to work together to develop technical information to support code, regulatory, and licensing engagement for the innovative new technologies, which are not fully qualified under industry codes governing safety-related nuclear structures and components.
The coalition assembled under the MOU represents a highly integrated innovation pipeline. Industry Leader Kairos Power is driving commercial fleet deployment and blueprint validation. ORLL provides world-class R&D in molten-salt technology and advanced materials. University of Tennessee-Knoxville bridges academic research with field-ready engineering. Barnard Construction translates lab-scale innovations into heavy civil construction execution. Roane State, Chattanooga State and Oak Ridge Schools deliver vocational certificates and training to local trade workers.
NuCAMP also plans to explore how its member organisations can partner to develop new education and training programmes for engineers and skilled tradespeople as new manufacturing and construction methods mature.
Kairos Power, MDF, the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering, and IACMI will provide research, engineering, and manufacturing expertise to advance technologies and address code gaps that currently limit their use in nuclear construction. Research priorities include but are not limited to:
- Precast concrete construction for safety-related nuclear structure;
- Large-format additive manufacturing to create customised forms for producing precast concrete components;
- Wire-arc additive manufacturing to produce vessel sections, nozzles, pump parts, and other large components; and
- Electron beam welding to join large metal components with limited distortion.
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville will evaluate two proposed master’s degree programmes: one focused on manufacturing engineering for factory-based nuclear production and another on precast concrete construction. Chattanooga State and Roane State will assess options to add specialised training for nuclear piping welders, precast production technicians, skid manufacturing technicians, and other roles. Oak Ridge Schools will explore expanding its advanced manufacturing and trades pathways for middle and high school students.
Together, the programmes are intended to create accessible career pathways for Tennessee students and tradespeople, gaining valuable experience working with university faculty, national lab researchers, and industry professionals to develop skills tailor-made to enter the advanced nuclear industry.
“Delivering affordable advanced reactors at scale will require more than a strong design.” said Ed Blandford, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Kairos Power. “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. 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.”
ORNL Director Dr Stephen Streiffer noted: “NuCAMP reflects the power of East Tennessee’s innovation ecosystem – industry, a national laboratory, and educational institutions working together to solve real deployment challenges. Through DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at ORNL and our broader research capabilities, we look forward to helping mature advanced manufacturing and construction methods for the nuclear industry while supporting the workforce needed to bring next-generation reactors to market.”
Kairos Power is developing Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (KP-FHR) technology, following an iterative approach, moving from non-nuclear engineering test units to demonstration plants and finally a commercial fleet. First concrete for Hermes 1, a 35 MWt non-power reactor designed to demonstrate nuclear heat production, was poured in May 2025. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit for Hermes 2, a two-unit plant (35 MWt each) in November 2024 and Kairos broke ground for the facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in April.
