Overview
- The companies announced Monday that Samsung C&T will provide up to $100 million to support the Hermes 2 project in Oak Ridge, a package made up of roughly $70 million in equity plus in‑kind engineering and services.
- The funding is structured as a binding term sheet that follows an August trilateral MOU with Barnard Construction and remains subject to normal regulatory and contractual approvals.
- Samsung will be embedded in Kairos’s EPC team and will initially focus on power‑generation systems and balance‑of‑plant work, with the firm positioned to win priority roles on future Kairos commercial reactors.
- Hermes 2 is a 50 MW demonstration of Kairos’s KP‑FHR design using molten fluoride salt coolant and TRISO fuel; the project received NRC construction approval in late 2024 and construction began in 2026, with outlets reporting target operation in 2030 or 2031.
- The deal links private capital, an industrial builder and Google’s 2024 offtake commitment for roughly 500 MW by 2035, and builds on prior DOE support for Hermes demonstration work while positioning Kairos in a crowded advanced‑nuclear field.