California nuclear energy company Kairos Power plans to hire dozens of employees this year for an expansion at the Mesa del Sol development in southern Albuquerque. The growth is part of a previously announced expansion that has accelerated in recent months.
But the expansion may be even bigger than previously thought.
In December, Albuquerque's Development Review Board approved plans for a 40,000-square-foot addition which would be used for manufacturing. Project plans originally called for about 128,000 square feet of space, according to an official notification of decision signed by Jolene Wolfley, the chair of the DRB. Construction began last fall, said Kairos Site Director John Muratore.
Kairos Power's will generate electricity using a steam cycle to convert heat from fission — which is what occurs when the nucleus of an atom is split into two or more smaller parts. But instead of using water, the reactor uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant. The company's Albuquerque laboratory is designed to test its high-temperature salt technology, its website says.
"Albuquerque is really critical... we need a place to try out our designs," Muratore said.
The company has hired 16 people for the Albuquerque project so far, and aims to hire about 30 more this year, said Human Resources Manager Michelle Fraumeni. Positions in the fields of engineering, procurement, health and safety, and information technology will be available, she said.
The company planned to create as 65 jobs with help from the New Mexico Economic Development Department, which committed $4 million in Local Economic Development Act money for the project. That amount includes a $1 million bonus for locating in an opportunity zone. The city's Economic Development Department also committed $1 million through its LEDA fund and serves as fiscal agent for the state funding, Business First reported.
As of December, Kairos Power had committed more than $6 million for project construction, according to a letter sent that month by Kairos chief of staff Katie Dignan to Wolfley. The company will invest as much as $125 million "on the campus," according to the state, which previously estimated that the expansion would generate an estimated total impact of up to $292 million throughout a decade.
Kairos Power was founded in 2016 and has about 160 employees, Fraumeni said. The company says it grew from a "broad research effort" at higher education institutions and national laboratories. Last month, the company announced its intent to deploy a test reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is headquartered in Alameda, California.
The firm is also one of several organizations previously selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive funding as part of the Risk Reduction program, which aims to design and develop safe and affordable reactor technologies. The award to Kairos has a total value of $629 million throughout seven years. Kairos will design, construct, and operate a test reactor, according to a DOE release.
