nuclear-news

At the same time, the U.S. Navy started developing smaller nuclear reactors for naval ships and the Army’s Nuclear Power Program constructed eight experimental mini-reactors for use in rural operations.  Since then, interest in using SMRs within the military and for domestic energy applications has grown. From 1999 to 2004, DOE’s Nuclear Energy Research Initiative awarded research and development grants to public, private, and non-profit entities in support of SMR development.

Two federal initiatives currently provide support for the commercialization of SMRs: the recently created DOE Small Modular Reactor Program and the private-public partnership program at DOE’s Savannah River site in South Carolina. To date, nearly $100 million in federal funds have been provided for SMRs through the Small Modular Reactor Program. Congress approved more than $95 million for DOE’s SMR program in FY2012 (See Table 1). The President’s FY2013 budget proposal of $770 million for the Office of Nuclear Energy included $83 million for SMRs.

Below are brief descriptions of the DOE SMR Program and the Private-Public partnership program at DOE’s Savannah River site.

DOE’s Small Modular Reactor Program

In March 2012, the Department of Energy announced a public-private cost-share funding opportunity aimed at commercializing SMR technology.  Within the announcement, DOE stated it would select up to two SMR proposals to receive up to $452 million in cost-share funding for design certification and licensing support, dependent on Congressional appropriations. The funds would help the SMR designs reach a commercial operation date before 2022. DOE’s funding opportunity extended from 2012 and 2016 and required taxpayers to provide up to 50% of project costs.

Taxpayers would also fund continued SMR research and development. The SMR Program is funded through two separate annual budget lines including “Licensing Technical Support” and “Advanced Concepts Research and Development.” The Licensing Technical Support sub-program would “provide support for design, certification, standards, and licensing.”   Moreover, the Advanced Concepts R&D sub-program provides taxpayer-backed support to the nuclear industry through reactor design and concepts development.

The DOE SMR program is behind schedule. According to the FY2013 budget justification, DOE planned to select up to two designs by September 2012  but announced a month later it had missed the deadline. In response to the funding opportunity announcement, four companies applied: Westinghouse Electric Company, Generation mPower LLC, SMR LLC, and NuScale Power LLC (See Table 2 or Appendix One for more information on individual applicants).

As of February 2013, DOE has only selected one applicant. In November 2012, DOE announced the first SMR design to be awarded cost-share funding. Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) could receive any portion of the $452 million to commercialize its 180 MWe reactor. The final amount B&W will receive has yet to be determined. While DOE only announced one of potentially two selections, it also stated it intends to provide additional funding opportunities in the future.

Earlier this month, B&W announced it had signed a contract with TVA to start preparing an NRC construction permit application for its proposed reactors at TVA’s Clinch River site.  Yet according to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), TVA initially intended to submit its application in late 2012.  A B&W-TVA press release says the companies plan to submit an application in 2015—three years behind schedule.

Savannah River Nuclear Development Site

In March 2012, DOE’s Savannah River site and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRS) signed three Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) for public-private partnerships with small modular reactor companies to commercialize SMR technologies.  Located in South Carolina, DOE’s SRS provides support ranging from technology demonstration to design certification and licensing assistance.   This support is in addition to the SMR program.

In one Memorandum of Agreement, SRS plans to invite the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to discuss incorporating mixed oxide fuels (MOX) into SMR LLC’s design. When soliciting proposals for public-private partnerships, SRS said it intends to develop SMR designs that are capable of using fuel based from surplus plutonium and spent reactor fuel as a potential alternative to storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca mountain.

Created in 1950, the federally-owned, privately-managed Savannah River complex was established to manufacture materials needed for nuclear weapons development during the Cold War. Since then, the 310-square mile complex has ceased producing weapons materials and housed much of DOE’s experimental nuclear research and development including mixed oxide fuels, environmental management, and waste storage technologies to the benefit of private industry. Savannah River has an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion….  http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/taxpayer-subsidies-for-small-modular-reactors