NuScale Submits First-Ever SMR Design Certification Application To NRC

13 Jan (NucNet): US-based NuScale Power has submitted the first-ever design certification application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a small modular reactor (SMR), marking what it called “a major step towards the deployment of the next generation of advanced nuclear technology”. NuScale said in a statement on 12 January 2017 that it had asked the NRC to approve its SMR commercial power plant design. NuScale’s application consisted of nearly 12,000 pages of technical information. The NRC is expected to take 40 months to complete the review, NuScale said. The first commercial 12-module NuScale SMR is planned to be built on the site of the Idaho National Laboratory. It will be owned by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and run by utility Energy Northwest, which owns and operates the Columbia nuclear station. NuScale said its design offers the benefits of carbon-free power and reduces the financial commitments associated with gigawatt-size nuclear facilities. NuScale’s technology is also ideally suited to supply energy for district heating, desalination, and process heat applications. At the heart of the technology is the NuScale Power Module, an integral reactor vessel surrounded by a high pressure steel containment, which when coupled to its power generation equipment can produce 50 MW of electricity. A NuScale SMR plant can house up to 12 of these modules for a total facility output of 600 MW (gross). NuScale said the scalability afforded by the modular design allows customers to incrementally increase facility output to match demand.