South Korea’s DHIC will bring its expertise in nuclear pressure vessel manufacturing and will join the larger US-led manufacturing team to build the SMR. Chicago-based Sargent & Lundy will proceed with development of the standard plant design to be used at multiple locations.
NuScale’s first customer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), is planning a 12-module SMR plant at the Idaho National Laboratory site scheduled for operation in 2026.
Last month NuScale announced that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission had completed the second and third phases of review of the SMR design.
The Oregon-based company said the development – six weeks ahead of schedule – marked a significant milestone in is efforts to commercialise the technology.
NuScale’s design is the first and only SMR to undergo design certification review by the NRC, and the announcement brought the company “closer to bringing the country’s first SMR to market, putting the US on a path to beat foreign competitors like Russia and China in a global SMR race”, a statement said.
The NRC is aiming to complete its review of NuScale’s design by September 2020.
NuScale chairman and chief executive officer John Hopkins said both DHIC and Sargent & Lundy will provide cash investments and offer invaluable technical expertise, design support and, in the case of DHIC, manufacture key components for the SMR as NuScale nears the beginning of the construction phase for its first plant at the Idaho National Laboratory.
This NuScale SMR design features a factory-fabricated power module capable of generating 60 MW of electricity using a safer, smaller, and scalable version of pressurised water reactor technology.
According to NuScale, the scalable design – a power plant can house up to 12 individual power modules – offers the benefits of carbon-free energy and reduces the financial commitments associated with gigawatt-sized nuclear facilities.
The majority investor in NuScale is Fluor Corporation, the engineering, procurement, and construction company.
