SMRs & ADVANCED REACTORS | UK COMPETITION UPDATE
Above: Holtec has revealed its site shortlist for a UK SMR production facility
Furthermore, Holtec Britain has recently announced
a shortlist of four UK sites for development of a new £1.3bn (US$1.65bn) SMR factory and production site. A final decision to select the final site in either South Yorkshire, the West Midlands, the Tees Valley or Cumbria is expected to be made in the autumn. It is expected that the site will produce between two and four reactors per year for the UK and export markets, including deployment of 5 GW of on- grid capacity in the UK by 2050. May saw another shortlisted PWR SMR technology, the
Westinghouse AP300, initiate the GDA process in the UK. “UK regulators are already very familiar with the AP300 SMR’s underpinning technology, so we look forward to working with them to progress the timely development and deployment of this advanced, proven technology,” said David Durham, Westinghouse Energy Systems President. This GDA application comes after the AP300 SMR
was selected for the next phase of GBN competition. In February 2023 the AP300 was also selected by Community Nuclear Power, Ltd. (CNP) for four SMRs that are planned for Teesside in Northeast England. CNP is working with strategic partners, including Jacobs and Interpath Advisory, to develop a fully licensed site for the project, with a target of 2027. This project is being privately funded.
In a statement NuScale said working with ENTRA1
Energy, an independent energy development and production company, it was proud to have submitted a tender response to GBN SMR competition. “With the only SMR tech that has completed R&D, secured regulatory approvals, and begun manufacturing, we are ready to deploy reliable, clean nuclear power in the UK,” it said in a statement. The development comes as RoPower Nuclear S.A., a subsidiary of the Romanian national nuclear energy producer Nuclearelectrica S.A., inked a deal with for Front- End Engineering and Design (FEED) Phase 2 with Fluor Corporation, advancing its mission to deploy an SMR in Romania. Deployment of the NuScale VOYGR-6 power SMR in Doiceşti, Romania is expected to be the first deployment of an SMR in Europe. However, while five of the shortlisted reactor vendors
submitted tender bids under the GBN contest, EDF elected to withdraw its Nuward design altogether. The decision reportedly relates to the time schedule required under the competition and the technological maturity of the reactor. It follows on from the recent move to modify the Nuward design and focus on existing technologies instead of continuing to pursue its innovative . The move reportedly followed talks with prospective European utility clients concerned over costs and delivery deadlines. Pivoting, EDF decided to “evolve the design” and build it exclusively from proven technological components. Nuward is a 340 MW PWR combining two 170 MWe reactors. The design included a nuclear island building that is semi-buried; a fully integrated reactor pressure vessel; a water immersed steel containment structure; a boron-free primary circuit; and passive cooling. In 2023, EDF signed an Exclusive Cooperation Agreement with Respect Energy to develop nuclear power projects in Poland at specific sites using its Nuward SMR. A co-operation agreement was also signed in 2024 with Ukraine’s Energoatom to study Nuward. With the five shortlisted vendors having now submitted
Above: Nuward is rethinking its design and has withdrawn from the UK’s SMR competition
18 | August 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
tender bids the SMR selection process is expected to be whittled down to the final two or three before the end of the year when contracts will be place. The contracts will co- fund further design development as well as the necessary regulatory, environmental and site- approvals before a final investment decision is taken in 2029. ■
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