The innovative Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project, which will be located in Deutschland, in the county of Dambowitz, will be upgraded in the sense that the module capacity will be 77 MW compared to the 50 MW that was originally certified. Americans from NuScale Power claim in a response sent to HotNews.ro that increasing the energy production of SMR to 77 MW per module will improve the economic aspects of the project. In other words, greater production capacity means cost savings and increased profitability.

Brief history:

• Romania, through the project company RoPower, founded by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas (part of the E-Infra group), is the first country in Europe and the second in the world after the United States to implement SMR NuScale technology, with an installation of 6 modules and an installed capacity of 462 MW (77 MW/module)
• The plant is planned to be commissioned at the end of this decade
• RoPower and NuScale are currently performing the first phase of design and engineering studies (FEED), which consists of a series of works and engineering and design studies, technical analysis of facilities, licensing and permitting activities, timing and cost estimation.
• Costs for the Romanian project and a detailed schedule for the Romanian project will be determined after the completion of Phase 1 of the FEED study.
• On June 27, 2022, during the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden announced a $14 million grant for preliminary engineering and design research (FEED) in Romania.
• In August, the National Nuclear Regulatory Commission (CNCAN) approved the License Base Document (LBD) for the NuScale plant. It establishes permit requirements, regulatory documents, applicable codes and standards, both national and international, as well as project characteristics.
• See the full context of the SMR project

NuScale: Power upgrades are fairly common for the US nuclear fleet

NuScale’s SMR technology is currently the only SMR technology approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), NuScale said in its response to HotNews.ro. According to him, the final safety assessment and project approval report was issued on August 28, 2020. Later, on July 29, 2022, the NRC approved the use of the NuScale technology project in the United States and began the process of issuing a certificate. that it was completed on January 19, 2023 by registration in the US Federal Register and is applicable 30 days after registration, that is, from February 21, 2023.

The validation and approval process mentioned above used a 50 MW reactor design in a 12-module plant configuration. In 2022, NuScale submitted a new standard design approval request to the NRC for the updated project, a plant in a configuration of 6 modules, each with a capacity of 77 MW.

The updated design is virtually unchanged from the certified 50 MW design, including maintaining the essential safety aspects and fully passive nuclear safety features approved by the NRC in 2020, NuScale said.

Power upgrades are quite common for the US nuclear fleet in operation. According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), “Energy utilities have used ramping since the 1970s as a way to generate more electricity at their nuclear plants. As of January 2022, the NRC has approved 171 capacity additions, resulting in approximately 24,089 MW (thermal megawatts) or 8,030 MW (electric megawatts).”

NuScale: Expected savings from increased capacity

The increase in capacity will not affect the nuclear safety of the NuScale SMR development, nor will it delay the schedule of the program, which involves the delivery of SMR modules to the US and Romania projects for the purpose of deploying power plants. by the end of this decade, NuScale says. In addition, cost savings are expected for projects after the design update.

NuScale says its 50MW module can generate more additional power per module, for a total of 77MW per module (gross), which is about 462MW for a 6-module installation.

NuScale’s engineering analysis shows that increasing the SMR output power to 77 MW per module will improve the economics of the project without requiring major changes in the engineering design.

In addition, the total cost of the Romanian project is estimated to be lower than the US project, taking into account labor costs in Romania.

NuScale says it is seeking approval of the new design, not re-accreditation of the technology

Neither the technology nor the project is subject to re-accreditation. NuScale argues that the terms “re-accreditation or re-approval” are incorrect in this context. It submitted a new standard design approval application to the NRC (US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) for the updated design, a plant in a configuration of 6 modules, each with a capacity of 77 MW.

NuScale states that permissions already obtained are not subject to re-approval. The updated design is largely unchanged from the certified 50 MW design, including retaining the essential safety aspects and fully passive nuclear safety features approved by the NRC in 2020.

“We did not expect that the renewed project (we mentioned again, the term re-accreditation in this context is incorrect) will lead to a delay of either of the two SMR projects – from the US or from Romania,” the Americans from NuScale show in their response to HotNews. ro.

The first NuScale plant will operate near Idaho Falls, USA

Both SMR projects – both in the USA and in Romania – are at the development stage.

The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) will be the first SMR NuScale power plant to begin operating in the United States near Idaho Falls, Idaho. The SMR plant will deploy six 77 MW modules to produce 462 MW of carbon-free electricity.

For the CFPP project, which is more advanced than the SMR project in Romania, NuScale has already placed an order for the long-term materials needed to start production of the first NuScale Power modules with Doosan Enerbility. They are scheduled to begin commercial operation at Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems’ zero-carbon energy project as early as 2029. In addition, NuScale and Doosan have agreed to manufacture additional modules for future VOYGR ™ SMR NuScale VOYGR ™ power plant projects with a similar delivery. give.

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• Small nuclear reactors, big problems – what is SMR technology, what are its advantages and why there is still work to be done