# X-Energy

X-Energy is an Asset Manager based in Houston, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Houston, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Rockville, MD, United States
- **Founded:** 2009
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** x-energy.com

## About

X-Energy, Inc. is a Houston, TX-based SEC-registered investment adviser established in 2026. The firm manages approximately $12.0 billion in regulatory assets. It has 22 employees and 12 investment advisers.

## Sectors

- Energy Transition & Renewables
- Industrial Tech

## People

- Kam Ghaffarian — Founder and Executive Chairman
- J. Clay Sell — Chief Executive Officer

## Questions

### What reactor technology does X-Energy develop?

X-Energy's primary design is the Xe-100, an 80-megawatt high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor that can be grouped into four-unit plants producing 320 MW. The reactor uses TRISO fuel — uranium kernels coated in carbon and ceramic layers that contain fission products at temperatures well beyond postulated accident conditions. The helium coolant exits at roughly 750°C, making it suitable for industrial process heat applications that light-water reactors cannot economically supply.

### Who leads X-Energy's executive team?

Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, who founded the company in 2009, serves as Executive Chairman. He previously built SGT into a major provider of engineering services for NASA, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community. J. Clay Sell serves as Chief Executive Officer; he was the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy under President George W. Bush and brings the regulatory and political relationships critical to nuclear licensing. The engineering leadership includes veterans from the US Navy nuclear program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

### How does X-Energy fund its operations?

X-Energy has raised capital through a combination of private equity investment, government cost-share agreements, and strategic corporate partnerships. The US Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program committed an initial $80 million in 2020 to support the Xe-100 licensing and demonstration roadmap. The company pursued a public listing via a SPAC merger with Ares Acquisition Corporation announced in September 2023 but terminated that path one month later, electing to remain privately funded without disclosing the specific alternative investors.

### What is TRISO fuel and why does X-Energy produce it?

TRISO — tristructural isotropic — fuel consists of a uranium oxycarbide kernel surrounded by layers of carbon and silicon carbide designed to withstand extreme temperatures without releasing fission products. X-Energy operates its own TRISO fuel fabrication pilot line at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, making it one of the few advanced reactor companies pursuing vertical integration into fuel supply. The firm's stated objective is to establish a domestic supply chain independent of Russian enrichment, which currently dominates the high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) market.

### Has X-Energy secured any commercial customers for its reactors?

Yes. Dow announced in 2023 that it had selected the Xe-100 design for an industrial installation at its Seadrift, Texas manufacturing site, aiming to demonstrate nuclear process heat for chemical production (per Dow, 2023). The deployment is contingent on regulatory licensing and final investment decisions. X-Energy had previously pursued a demonstration project with Energy Northwest in Washington state, supported by the Department of Energy award.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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