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As X-energy’s Chief Scientist, Eben Mulder, leads the development of X-energy’s technology drive in expanding its high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) technology applicability. In this executive leadership role, he serves as overall lead for considering expansion into both electrical and non-electrical deployment. His role is to charter an innovative R&D roadmap in terms of advanced fuel-cycle designs, minimizing of the Xe-100 waste profile, cyber security and proliferation resistance profile and help in providing a long-term HALEU supply strategy.

With Eben’s direction, X-energy will pursue applications for using nuclear process heat, opening the vast opportunity for their Xe-100 reactors. Eben will continue the pursuit of two economic advantages the Xe-100 offers, Medium temperature processes using steam temperature values up to 600°C: steam for enhanced oil recovery, for refineries and processing oil sands and oil shales. High temperature processes with operating temperatures up to 900°C: steam reforming of methane or light hydrocarbons, coal gasification with steam, thermo-chemical cycles for hydrogen production, olefin-production.

These endothermic processes require large amounts of heat for the process itself, for gas purification and compression. Typically, around 40 to 50% of the energy of the primary energy input is used as process energy. This part can be substituted by heat from the Xe-100 helium circuit. The components to transfer the heat into the processes are helical coil steam generators, steam reformers or intermediate heat exchangers. Eben has worked at the AVR (46 MW) prototype for the nuclear heat source, which operated very successfully for 21 years, during which the last 10 years were operated with an average helium outlet temperature of 950°C.

An expert in nuclear reactor design, Eben has authored more than 30 technical papers, several hundreds of design-based reports and presented more than 55 keynote addresses and invited talks worldwide. Before joining X-energy, Eben was CEO and Director of Steenkampskraal Thorium Ltd. (Centurion, South Africa), responsible for the oversight of advanced small pebble bed high-temperature reactors and advanced fuel cycle designs. Prior to that, Eben was Chief Scientific Officer at PBMR (Pty) Ltd., South Africa’s clean technology Pebble Bed Modular Reactor program.

He has also served as Corporate Consultant for the South African state utility, ESKOM, Director of the Northwest University’s (Potchefstroom, South Africa) Post Graduate School for Nuclear Sciences and Engineering and Professor in the School of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering where he has developed and taught specialized courses in High Temperature Reactor Technology, HTGR Design with VSOP and presented numerous short courses internationally. Eben holds a PhD in nuclear engineering and undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics