eVINCI MICROREACTOR | REACTOR DESIGN
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The eVinci will be transportable by conventional means with many components fitting inside standard ISO containers
still provides about 7 MWth at about 1500C so there could be applications in a micro grid or a community or maybe a university where both 5 MW of electricity and about 7 MW of process heat is needed. Any process or industrial applications that require high temperature heat are suitable.” Saab is keen to emphasise that the design team kept a
keen focus on commercial considerations, saying: “There needs to be a sweet spot between the output and the cost for it to be commercially valid and that’s the balance that they’ve gone through the past several years.” Another safety consideration in the design is its use of TRISO accident-tolerant fuel. TRISO fuel, 19.75% enriched, is structurally more resistant to neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation, and high temperatures than traditional reactor fuels. Saab expands on this: “We selected TRISO really because of the robustness of the fuel with uranium encapsulated by graphite. The coating on the TRISO fuel is carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of fission products due to the higher melting point than uranium preventing the potential release risk. We chose it because of that technology and that safety ability.” He adds that many of the micro reactors and next generation SMRs have made the same design choice because of the robustness and the safety factors and is confident that fuel supply won’t be an issue despite the current lack of commercially available TRISO fuels. “There are a number of vendors out there working to manufacture TRISO, as well as Westinghouse which has got a fully vertical nuclear fuel supply chain. We’re assessing all options, either buy it or make it and we will have to evaluate to see what the best thing is for Westinghouse and our customers. We haven’t decided what that path would be as of yet,” he says. In any event, TRISO fuel is standardised so all the design and licensing requirements can be addressed before that decision becomes an issue.
The path to commercialisation Westinghouse has revealed an ambitious time frame for both completion of the microreactor’s design and subsequent licensing and commercial roll-out. “We are aiming to have the design completed in 2028. Last November we announced our first customer, Saskatchewan Research Council. They would like to have an eVinci for their use in 2029. In, terms of licensing, we are working on both sides of the [US-Canadian] border right now. With the NRC in the US and with the CNSC in Canada where we’re going through the Vendor Design Review process. That is providing white papers and topical reports of Westinghouse efforts
to get them familiar with the technology. That way when we do enter the formal licensing process, which will typically come from the customer license to prepare a site, likely Saskatchewan Research Council, then the regulator will be more familiar with the eVinci technology. For the NRC we’re doing the same and getting feedback on what’s working and what needs to be improved. We’re really putting ourselves in the best position for when customers start placing orders and we can be expedient through the licensing process,” says Saab. Having achieved NRC and CNSC approval, the goal is to see an accelerated commercial roll out on the basis that it is a small unit and therefore potentially offers advantages in installation and commissioning. As Saab says: “The benefit of a microreactor is they could
be factory manufactured and taken to site. Essentially if the site is already prepped and ready with the infrastructure there our goal is to be able to make the connection and have it up and running in 30 days. Very different from a large capital construction of a gigawatt reactor.” To facilitate serial manufacturing and a production line
approach, Westinghouse already has plans in place, notably at the Etna facility near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in the United States, which will be used for manufacturing all heat pipes for the demonstration unit as well as feature in the initial production of future commercial units. “We’ve made a significant investment in Etna,” says Saab, adding: “It’s also where the majority of the eVinci business unit team resides and that will be an accelerator hub for eVinci, where we will manufacture the first several units. As we get to fleet deployments and forecast out the demand for the technology, we’ll have to evaluate how to scale up manufacturing. That will be decided by our manufacturing team at the time.”
A modular model The goal for the eVinci design will be transporting the fully manufactured unit to its operating location loaded with fuel. There it is expected to run for at least eight years before the complete unit will be returned to Westinghouse for refurbishment and refuelling. If required a replacement unit will be installed at the site simultaneously. Saab explains: “We’ve designed the technology to be modular and envision about four, maybe five ISO containers for the system to be transported to site. We believe that the reactor itself will require a bit larger container, but will still be transportable through traditional methods. The goal has always beenl to design a technology that was
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