18 May (NucNet): Westinghouse Electric Company and utility Ameren Missouri have formed a group called the NexStart SMR Alliance to advance plans to licence and build a Westinghouse small modular reactor (SMR) at Ameren’s Callaway nuclear site in Missouri.
In a statement Westinghouse said the two companies are bidding for US Department of Energy (DOE) funding to support the initial licensing and construction of SMRs in the US by 2022. Ameren said the funding, announced by the DOE in March, will support “first-of-its-kind” engineering, design certifications and operating licences for up to two SMR designs over five years.
Westinghouse and Ameren Missouri announced last month that they would join forces to bid for the DOE funding.
The NexStart SMR Alliance includes Exelon Generation Company, Dominion Virginia Power, FirstEnergy Generation, Tampa Electric Company, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, Savannah River National Laboratory, and members of the Missouri Alliance: Missouri Public Utility Alliance; Associated Electric Cooperative; Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives; Empire District Electric Company; and Kansas City Power and Light Company.
The alliance represents current and prospective nuclear plant owners and operators.
The alliance will collaborate in supporting Westinghouse in its application to secure DOE funds.
The funds will span a five-year period and, subject to Congressional appropriations, provide a total investment of approximately $900 million (about 708 million euro) with at least 50 percent provided by private industry.
The investment fund application will be submitted to the DOE by mid-May, and a final decision on awarding the investment funds by the DOE is expected in late summer of 2012, Westinghouse said.
