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Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Pressurized Water

History Made as NuScale Files First SMR Application With U.S. Nuke Regulators

January 27, 2017 By Rod Adams 10 Comments

NuScale COO Mike McGough watching press fill the room at the Newseum

Two years ago, NuScale committed to filing a license application for its eponymous SMR design with U.S. regulators by the end of 2016.

Just three months before two company executives used a custom pen on the cover letter of the ~12,000 page design certification application, even NuScale insiders were doubtful that the task could be completed by the self-imposed deadline.

Experienced and jaded observers from outside the company thought the task impossible, given the publicly available information about the status of the effort.

The final actions required to complete and check the document were finished a couple of hours after the famous New Year’s Eve ball had dropped in Times Square.

But NuScale is, and always has been, a West coast company. By the clock in the conference room, the DCA was signed with nearly an hour to spare before 2016 ended.

In an interview, Chief commercial officer Mike McGough described the scene in the Corvallis, Ore., conference room where a small signing ceremony was conducted.

Tired but happy and legitimately proud faces gathered around COO and chief nuclear officer Dale Atkinson and vice president Tom Bergman to witness their signing of the letter that formally requested the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review, approve and grant a standard design certification for the NuScale design.

“As you recall, we had the NRC in to conduct a DCA readiness assessment in September,” McGough said.

“When they departed, they gave us a list of 85 items where they felt that we had provided incomplete information that might prevent docketing,” he continued. “Our DCA submission includes a response matrix listing every one of those 85 items and what we did to address the concern.”

On the morning of Jan. 12, company executives piled into a van for the short trip from a Washington, D.C., hotel to NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md.

After hand delivering the DCA and supporting documentation, they held a press conference with brief remarks by company executives, elected officials and nuclear industry leaders at the Newseum near Capitol Hill.

McGough and I spoke about the company’s progress several times during the month of December. The NuScale official repeatedly emphasized that the company had numerous protocols in place to ensure that the submission would be high quality and complete, even if the decision had to be made to miss the self-imposed deadline.

Recent history of DCA submissions at the NRC have shown that there are severe cost, schedule and credibility issues associated with an incomplete submission.

McGough said that his company’s leaders were ready to take several weeks to a few months longer if needed to avoid a docket rejection and DCA resubmission that might require another year or more of effort before getting to the point where the NRC began the review.

Aside: Following NuScale’s press conference announcing the DCA submittal, I spoke with John Hopkins, NuScale’s CEO. He reiterated the company’s firm commitment to submit a complete, high quality DCA as a higher priority than one that met a self-imposed deadline.

He also expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the people who worked so diligently to make the application both timely and complete. He told me that the Fluor board was impressed that a nuclear project met a deadline; it was a relatively rare event. That reinforced their confidence in NuScale designers and managers. End Aside.

The current expectation is that the agency will take about two months to review the application and determine if it is complete or if additional information is needed before the staff can begin its work that, under a recently refined schedule, is projected to take three and a half years.

UAMPS Is First Customer

NuScale’s application provides complete technical details for the standard plant design, which consists of 12 identical modules that could each be a standalone 50 MWe power plant.

Each module has a reactor heat source that uses light water circulated without any pumps to transfer fission heat from the reactor, an integral steam generator and pressurizer, a sealed containment vessel and a complete Rankine cycle steam plant.

All 12 modules will be installed inside a common pool and will be controlled from a single control room.

The modules are sized so they can be completely manufactured and delivered to a site ready to be installed and connected.

This concept provides economy of series production, scalabil- ity and maintenance exibility that is impossible in monolithic power plants designed to produce 1,000 or more MWe per unit.
The first commercial NuScale power plant will be built on a site within the reservation of the Idaho National Laboratory.

It will be owned by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), whose member companies will use the 600 MWe of clean electricity from the facility to supply retail and commercial customers in their service territories. UAMPS has a target date for commercial operation by the end of 2026.

Energy Northwest, an experienced nuclear plant operating company, will operate and maintain the plant for UAMPS.

Primary Funder Is Fluor

The NuScale power module evolved from a design first conceived in 2000 by Dr. Jose Reyes while working as a nuclear engineering professor at Oregon State University. OSU continues to play an important role in hosting several testing facilities and providing a strong pipeline of engineers.

NuScale started pre-application reviews with the NRC in 2008. The firm has purchased 43,000 hours of professional staff time at a cost of more than $11 million to resolve concerns about the design approach and safety case.

The company has also invested in more than 2,000,000 staff hours supplied by a staff of more than 800 people. NuScale worked with more than 50 vendor partners to design and test components, conduct full system tests and develop licensing documentation.

In 2013, the SMR designer competed for and won a grant from the Department of Energy that provided $217 million. NuScale investors have matched those government funds — and then some — to pay for design and licensing efforts.

In 2011, Fluor (FLR:NYSE), the giant multinational construction and contracting company, purchased a majority of the company’s shares and has been the primary source of funds for the project.

Fluor has also been a major participant in the design effort and the establishment of the supply chain for the unique components that form the plant.


Note: A version of the above was first published in Fuel Cycle Week, issue number 690 dated January 12, 2017. It is republished here with permission.

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

Bechtel and BWXT have announced an acceleration of Generation mPower

March 5, 2016 By Rod Adams 9 Comments

Note: For an update on this topic see subsequent post titled Bechtel will “pursue” acceleration of mPower project.

On March 4, 2016, in a press release issued from Reston, VA, Bechtel and BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced that they would be accelerating their Generation mPower small modular reactor project. Bechtel will take over the project lead and focus on aspects of the development that take advantage of its “historic strengths in engineering, licensing, procurement, construction, and project management.”

BWXT will focus on completing the design of its 195 MWe BWXT mPowerTM reactor. Design completion tasks include the testing program that will be required to validate and verify the engineering assumptions and computer codes used to support the design certification application (DCA).

Both companies will play a major role in completing the DCA. The press release did not include a projected date when the application will be ready for submission.

This project acceleration decision follows a period lasting almost two years in which the Generation mPower team head count fell from about 600 people to substantially below 200. That reduction in force and slowdown in development occurred after the B&W board of directors determined they would reduce spending on the project from ~ $100 million/year to a maximum of $15 million per year.

Before the slowdown, substantial progress had been made in developing the DCA; the submission had been planned to occur by the first quarter of 2015. There was about a year’s worth of work remaining.

In the summer of 2015, the Babcock and Wilcox Company split into two separate companies. The units that focused on combustion-related products like boilers and pollution control systems now form the company that retained the B&W name. The units focused on nuclear energy products, including the large segment that supplies and services the Navy nuclear power program are now part of BWXT. The BWXT mPower reactor project is one of those business units.

Based on the existence of the new agreement, it’s apparent that Bechtel and BWXT have continued discussions about the best way to move forward with the promising technology. Between B&W, Bechtel and the Department of Energy there has already been nearly half a billion dollars invested in the mPower reactor and associated power conversion system.

The timing of the announcement will come as a surprise to the people who have remained on the project under its slowed spending rate. Several have been working diligently to find users for the multi-million dollar Integrated System Test (IST) facility that was put into a preservation mode when the operating crew was laid off.

Below is an excerpt from the press release issued yesterday afternoon.

Aside: The press release lede exaggerates to the point of inaccuracy by labeling the interrupted mPower reactor as “the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear reactor.“


RESTON, Va., March 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Global engineering and construction leader Bechtel and nuclear technology leader BWX Technologies, Inc. have announced a new agreement to pursue accelerated development of the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear reactor.

Bechtel will lead the program and leverage the company’s historic strengths in engineering, licensing, procurement, construction, and project management. BWXT will focus on designing and testing the nuclear steam supply system. Both companies will collaborate to prepare a design certification application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Known as Generation mPower, the project is centered on the BWXT mPowerTM reactor—a 195-megawatt-electric power plant that will be a safe, cost-competitive, and innovative solution to provide low-carbon electricity—addressing the growing challenges of climate change and sustainable development.

“This technology holds great promise and we are firmly committed to doing everything we can to bring it to market,” said Ty Troutman, general manager of Bechtel’s nuclear power business unit. “It’s one of the keys to solving the problem of replacing older power plants without relying on fossil fuels or the intermittent availability of solar and wind. Pound for pound, small modular reactors can deliver more 24/7 electricity than any other low-carbon alternative energy technology.”

Generation mPower delivers greater certainty in nuclear power costs and schedule, which is needed to enable broader, more timely development of nuclear power. Its key features include:

  • Compact size
  • Factory built, rail shippable reactor
  • Passive safety systems incorporating post-Fukushima design criteria
  • Underground containment structure
  • Standard fuel assemblies made from less-than-five-percent-enriched uranium
  • Fit for purpose: designed for cost-effective deployment

“Bechtel is unique in that we have, and will continue to take, the long view on nuclear power,” Troutman said. “We are an enduring presence in the industry.”

…

Media contact:

Fred de Sousa
t. 703 429 6435
tfdesous@bechtel.com

For BWX Technologies:
Jud Simmons
t. 434 522 6462
hjsimmons@bwxt.com

Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130124/SF47758LOGO

SOURCE Bechtel

RELATED LINKS
http://www.bechtel.com

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, New Nuclear, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors, Water Cooled Reactors

Diseconomy of scale – world’s largest canned-motor reactor coolant pump

February 28, 2015 By Rod Adams

On February 16, 2015, an AP article by Ray Henry titled Nuclear plants delayed in China, watched closely by US firms contained a short paragraph that has contributed to a number of sleepless nights. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other people affected in the same manner who have far more at stake than […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, AP1000 saga, Business of atomic energy, New Nuclear, Pressurized Water

UAMPS stepping forward to serve customers

October 19, 2014 By Rod Adams

The established nuclear energy industry has taken a wait-and-see approach to the idea of developing and deploying smaller, simpler fission power stations that can take advantage of the economy of series production. The industry’s trade organization, the Nuclear Energy Institute, has expressed cautious optimism and has engaged in a moderate effort to identify regulatory obstacles […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic Entrepreneurs, Atomic Pioneers, New Nuclear, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

Prospective customers lining up at NuScale

October 16, 2014 By Rod Adams

A few days ago, Dan Yurman at Neutron Bytes published a blog post that is now titled Flash: NuScale executive says firm may build SMRs at Idaho lab. It was a follow-up to an earlier post in which Dan speculated about the Idaho National Lab’s potential as a good site for a new nuclear power […]

Filed Under: Atomic Entrepreneurs, Business of atomic energy, New Nuclear, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

Russia using oil wealth to finance nuclear exports

January 15, 2014 By Rod Adams

Brent Spot Market Oil Prices 1988-2013

Russia has announced plans to lend Hungary $14 billion at below market rates to finance the construction of additional nuclear energy production units at the existing Paks nuclear power station. The announcement is one more piece of evidence showing that Russia continues to diversify its income by exporting nuclear power stations to as large a […]

Filed Under: Fossil fuel competition, International nuclear, Natural Gas, New Nuclear, Plutonium, Politics of Nuclear Energy, Pressurized Water

Rosatom achieves a marketing win in Finland to supply Fennovoima

December 21, 2013 By Rod Adams

Finns are pragmatic people who love their country, but also recognize its geographic limitations. “Finland is a very cold and dark country. Electricity is very important to us. We are a kind of island in Europe, we have take care of ourselves. No one will help us if we run out of power.” Way back […]

Filed Under: International nuclear, New Nuclear, Nuclear Cost Data, Pressurized Water

Reuters Breakout series focuses on China’s interest in thorium

December 20, 2013 By Rod Adams

Reuters is running a series titled Breakout: Inside China’s Military Buildout. Installment number 6 is titled The U.S. government lab behind Beijing’s nuclear power push. The title is misleading; it is not about China’s world-leading, multibillion-dollar program. That program includes 29 large commercial nuclear plants currently under construction. Instead, the article focuses on a $350 […]

Filed Under: Breeder Reactors, Pressurized Water, Thorium, Thorium Reactors

NuScale wins second round of DOE SMR funding under FOA

December 19, 2013 By Rod Adams

On December 12, 2013, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of NuScale as the winner of the second round of funding under the Department of Energy Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). That announcement, which had been due since sometime in September, must have been quite welcome to a lot of really talented and […]

Filed Under: New Nuclear, Pressurized Water, Reactors, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors, Wind energy

Root cause of Naval Reactors policy of strict secrecy about nuclear propulsion plant design

December 4, 2013 By Rod Adams

As a Navy nuke, I was carefully taught to believe that everything we learned about atomic energy had to be strictly protected from release to anyone who was not “cleared”, especially anyone who was not a US citizen. I started to question that policy after I completed my tour as the Engineer Officer on the […]

Filed Under: Politics of Nuclear Energy, Atomic history, Atomic ships, Nuclear Ships, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

McMurdo Station – the New York of the Deep Freeze South

October 9, 2013 By Rod Adams

(Note: If you are impatient and do not want to watch cute photos of penguins, skip to 19:06 to learn more about the reasons why the PM-3A, a 1,500 kilowatt nuclear electricity generator and process heat supply system, was such a valuable contributor to sustained Antarctic research.) Nearly all of the images that are used […]

Filed Under: Army Nuclear Program, Atomic history, Energy density, Fossil fuel competition, Pressurized Water, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

Effective long form advertisement describing Westinghouse AP1000

October 2, 2013 By Rod Adams

Westinghouse seems intent on taking advantage of the growing capabilities of the internet to distribute effective messages about the value of its products. It may be difficult to explain the benefits of a nuclear reactor producing 1,110 MW of reliable emission-free electricity in a 15 or 30 second TV spot. It might also be difficult […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, AP1000 saga, Pressurized Water, Water Cooled Reactors

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