The Factory of a Not-So-Distant Future Could Have a Nuclear Reactor Next Door

However, an installation of this kind would also face regulatory barriers in Mexico. Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution establishes that the use of nuclear fuels to generate nuclear energy belongs to the Nation, while Article 15 of the Regulatory Law on Nuclear Matters reserves electricity generation using these fuels exclusively for CFE, Mexico’s state-owned electric utility. This does not prevent the technology from finding industrial applications, but it does determine the framework under which they could be developed in the country. 

Although the Mexican example remains in the realm of possibility for now, the scale of the market helps put into perspective an idea that is already beginning to take shape in industrial projects. Dow, for example, is seeking to install four X-energy Xe-100 reactors at its chemical complex in Seadrift, Texas. Each of these small modular reactors (SMRs) has a thermal capacity of 200 megawatts and uses helium as a coolant, allowing it to reach outlet temperatures above 700°C and produce steam at 565°C. That steam can be supplied directly to certain industrial processes, including those used in chemical manufacturing and refining. Others, such as glass melting, cement clinker production or some stages of steelmaking, require higher temperatures, but the reactor can also use its energy to generate electricity. Each unit can produce up to 80 megawatts of electricity, meaning the four planned for Dow would total 320 megawatts and, if they operated at that capacity for an entire year, would produce the equivalent of about 1.5% of the annual electricity consumption of Mexico’s medium-sized and large industrial users².

Distance, however, is a determining factor. Electricity can travel long distances, but doing so depends on a transmission network whose expansion requires new lines, investment and years of development; heat, by contrast, is difficult to transport efficiently over long distances. In that sense, locating SMRs near industrial facilities can allow heat to be used directly where it is needed and electricity to be generated near where it will be consumed³. That proximity is possible in part because advanced nuclear reactors such as the Xe-100 can have a physical footprint between one-quarter and one-tenth that of large nuclear power plants, making it possible to consider co-locating them at existing industrial facilities⁴.

In the future, proximity could not only reduce the infrastructure needed to bring energy to a factory, but also change how much energy entire industrial markets would need to receive from outside. Monterrey helps put that possibility into perspective. The market alone accounts for nearly 28% of the 10.7 million square meters occupied by companies in the five industries identified by SiiLA as having documented nuclear heat applications. Of that space, about 92% corresponds to mining, metallurgy and steel, food production and the chemical industry.

While none of this means that markets such as Monterrey will incorporate nuclear reactors, the mere possibility that they someday could introduces a new variable into the relationship between energy and industrial real estate, because if generation can become part of the infrastructure associated with a property, its capacity would no longer depend solely on its size, location or building characteristics, but also on the energy available to it. A physically functional property could therefore lose its competitive edge if the surrounding infrastructure cannot supply what its occupants require. And in that scenario, an industrial building could become obsolete from an energy standpoint before it becomes physically obsolete.

The convergence of nuclear energy and industry is beginning to take on a real estate dimension. To keep up with how this and other transformations are changing the industrial market, continue exploring SiiLA REsource or write to us at contacto@siila.com.mx.

¹ SiiLA calculation using data as of Q2-2026. The occupied area of companies classified into five subindustries was added together—food, beverages and tobacco [1, 8]; paper and pulp [2, 9]; chemicals, petrochemicals and plastics [3, 5, 9]; oil and gas [8, 9]; and mining, metallurgy and steel [8, 9]—for which the sources consulted document current or potential applications of heat from nuclear reactors. Documents from the IAEA, DOE and EPRI were also consulted as cross-cutting support for these applications [4, 6, 7]. The resulting 10.7 million sqm was divided by the 100.7 million sqm of occupied space recorded across the 12 markets analyzed by SiiLA. The classification does not imply that every property carries out compatible processes or can directly use nuclear heat. Sources: [1] DOE, Food and Beverage Products; [2] OIEA, P1772; [3] DOE, Nuclear 101: High-Temperature Gas Reactor; [4] OIEA, PUB2041; [5] DOE, Dow Advanced Reactor Project; [6] DOE, Advanced Nuclear Liftoff Report; [7] EPRI, Advanced Nuclear Technology Assessment Guide; [8] DOE, Process Heat Basics; [9] INL, Outlook on Industrial Requirements for Incorporating Nuclear Energy into Industrial Processes.

² Calculation using SENER and DOE data. In 2024, final electricity consumption in Mexico totaled 304,011 GWh, of which 60.6% corresponded to medium-sized businesses and large industry, equivalent to 184,231 GWh. Four Xe-100 reactors with a capacity of 80 MW of electricity each would total 320 MW and, operating at that capacity for 8,760 hours, would generate 2,803 GWh, equivalent to 1.5% of that consumption. The comparison is a theoretical full-capacity equivalent for one year; it does not represent expected actual generation or imply that this energy could directly supply that share of industrial demand. The 200 MW of thermal capacity and 80 MW of electrical capacity should not be added together. The first figure refers to the reactor’s thermal capacity, part of whose energy can be used as process heat or to generate electricity.

³ The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that obtaining federal permits for new transmission lines takes about four years on average and that the full development of some projects can take more than a decade. For industrial applications, the agency also notes that transporting heat efficiently is difficult, meaning the sources that supply it must be located near the facilities that use it. Sources: DOE, Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits Program; DOE, Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear.

⁴ X-energy says the Xe-100 can occupy between one-quarter and one-tenth the footprint of a traditional nuclear power plant and estimates that a four-reactor, 320 MW electrical plant would have a footprint of approximately 26 acres (10.5 hectares). The company also proposes a 400-meter emergency planning zone for the Xe-100, compared with the roughly 10 miles typically used around large conventional reactors. This zone does not represent a minimum distance between the reactor and an industrial facility. U.S. regulations for SMRs establish a scalable, risk-based approach for determining its size and require an analysis of hazards from adjacent or nearby facilities. Sources: X-energy; NRC, Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies; NRC, Emergency Planning Zones; NRC, Xe-100 Pre-Application Activities.