NEW GENERATION | SMRs: target 2030 Deployment by the end of the decade could make SMRs an industrial power option
THERE ARE UPWARDS OF 70 small modular reactor (SMR) designs under investigation in 17 countries, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is a huge amount of global development activity, but the world needs commercial rollout if those reactor designs are to make a useful contribution to our future zero carbon electricity mix. How close are we to full scale deployment of SMRs? Recently there has been good news in crossing what
is often referred to as the ‘valley of death’ in technology commercialisation – the leap from development to commercial rollout.
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) licensing process. The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation, meanwhile, has modernised its Generic Design Acceptance (GDA) process to adapt it for advanced nuclear technologies, although so far it has not received any applications. The second reason for the leap is that operating
experience is being amassed from plant that have already passed licensing review and entered operation. Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant marked its first year in operation in May this year. In September, startup was achieved for China’s HTR-PM. This is regarded as an industrial demonstration plant, and it has two reactor units driving a single 200MW turbine. Construction of this reactor began in December 2012. Also in an advanced stage of construction is the 27MW Argentine CAREM (a prototype of a 150-300MW commercial design).
Opportunity and challenge SMRs present an opportunity to the nuclear industry but it should not be forgotten that they also represent a new challenge. Despite the aims of replication and series build, the existing industry is built on a model of major infrastructure planning akin to an international airport or rail hub: sites are agreed and planned in collaboration with government, as is funding and financing. An industry model that sees scores of reactors built, often on new sites, requires a different approach. That is clear in the licensing process that has
Above: Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant Photo credit: Rosatom
First, that is because a pipeline is building of reactor designs that, crucially, are licensed by national regulatory authorities. In September 2020, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued Standard Design Approval for the NuScale SMR and in the next step the NRC invited comments on a rulemaking that would certify NuScale’s standard reactor design, which means that customers can move forward with plans to develop NuScale power plants. Comments closed on the rulemaking at the end of October. Also, in October Kairos Power took a step on the same
route when it announced that it had submitted the preliminary safety analysis report for its fluoride salt- cooled, high-temperature reactor to the NRC as part of its application for a construction permit for the Hermes low- power demonstration reactor. The USA is not the only country moving forward.
In Canada, Global First Power (GFP) has applied for a licence to prepare a site for its 15MWt Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) at Chalk River in Ontario and the application is in the technical review phase of the
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already been applied to SMRs, and in some instances it challenges long-held assumptions about how nuclear should be designed and operated. For example, one requirement that had to be suspended for NuScale specified a dedicated control room and minimum number of operators for each nuclear unit – but the NuScale design would see an array of small reactors operated from one control room. That issue will arise in a different form when other SMR or micro reactor designs, some of which use remote operation, enter the licensing process. Similarly, a new approach to site selection will also
be required, on an industrial model that is appropriate for sites in the tens and hundreds rather than one or two per country. Regulators have to be ready to manage that issue, as we are seeing the real beginning of a ‘fleet’ approach to SMRs. A few weeks ago NuScale Power took a step in this
direction by signing memoranda of understanding with two Polish organisations that could open up a fleet of potential sites. One is based on power generation sites that will need to be repurposed: together with Oklahoma-based integrated energy company Getka Group and Polish energy company Unimot it is scoping coal-fired generation sites in Poland that could house SMRs.
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