Small Modular Reactor / GEH Begins Vendor Design Review In Canada

The company said the review is an optional service provided by the CNSC to provide early feedback during the design process. The objective is to verify whether a plant design meets Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements.

The review will focus on identifying any issues that could become fundamental barriers in a licensing process for a possible new-build project in Canada.

“We are designing the BWRX-300 small modular reactor to be cost competitive with gas and renewables,” said Jon Ball, executive vice-president of nuclear plant projects for GEH. “This review is an important step in the commercialisation of this breakthrough technology.”

The BWRX-300 is a 300-MW SMR derived from GEH’s 1,520 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) design. According to GEH, the BWRX-300 leverages the design and licensing basis of the ESBWR, which received design certification in the US in 2014.

GEH said it had used “dramatic design simplification” to result in the BWRX-300 requiring up to 60% less capital cost per MW when compared to other water-cooled SMRs or existing large nuclear reactor designs. Compared with the ESBWR, the BWRX-300 would use 50% less concrete and steel on a per MW basis.

The company said it believes that the BWRX-300 can become cost-competitive with power generation from combined cycle gas and renewables.