Sodium-cooled plant ‘ready for next stages’ of development
Canada-based nuclear power plant developer ARC Clean Technology announced on 9 July that it has achieved a major milestone with the successful completion of Phase 2 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) vendor design review for its advanced small modular reactor, the ARC-100.
In its report, the CNSC concluded that no fundamental barriers to licensing have been identified, marking a pivotal step toward the commercial deployment of the ARC-100.
The ARC-100 is a 100 MW sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor designed for both on-grid electricity production and industrial heat applications.
ARC said the plant builds upon proven technology and can provides clean, reliable power to support grid stability and industrial applications.
The ARC-100 is the first advanced, sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor to complete a review of this type with the CNSC, ARC said.
With the conclusion of this CNSC review, ARC is well-positioned to proceed with the next stages of licensing and deployment, ARC said.
A sodium-cooled nuclear reactor is one that uses liquid sodium to dissipate heat. The use of sodium as a cooling agent distinguishes this type of reactor from conventional reactors, which rely on water as a cooling solution.
Sodium-cooled reactors are said to offer two key advantages over water-cooled plants: greater efficiency, because sodium remains an effective cooling medium at higher temperatures than water; and a lower risk of explosion caused by high pressure, since sodium coolants operate at lower pressures than water.
ARC said the Phase 2 vendor design review provides feedback to the vendor on matters related to CNSC regulatory requirements and expectations. As part of the multi-year review, which began in 2022, ARC submitted hundreds of technical documents covering 19 focus areas defined by the CNSC and of importance to future licensing applications.
The submissions included information related to safety systems, safety analyses, reactor and process system design, regulatory compliance and quality assurance.
ARC and Swiss-American company data centre project company Deep Atomic recently signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the deployment of ARC-100 SMRs to power next-generation data centres and AI infrastructure.
New Brunswick Power has chosen the ARC-100 for potential deployment at its Point Lepreau nuclear site, where a single Candu 6 plant has been in commercial operation since 1983.
Canada’s Belledune Port Authority is also working on plans to use ARC-100 plants as part of a future expansion at the northern New Brunswick port, eastern Canada.
