nuclear-news

NuClear News No 87, 5 Aug 16 Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) Britain’s ambition to build small modular nuclear plants took a step forward as the nation’s last independent steelmaker said it will work with Fluor Corp.’s NuScale Power to make components. Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd. will forge a large civil nuclear reactor vessel head by the end of 2017. It is part of a £4m programme funded by the government-backed Innovate U.K. agency. NuScale is providing an undisclosed sum of additional funding.

In the USA, NuScale says it is “at an advanced stage” of development compared to its nearest competitors. NuScale is the only SMR developer to be currently receiving US Department of Energy match funding ($217 million over five years), the only SMR developer to be close to submitting a Design Certification Application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission – which NuScale says will happen later this year – and it has “multiple active customer deployment projects under way”. The first NuScale facility is planned to be in operation in 2024 in the state of Idaho. (2)

New “mini” nuclear reactor technology should be built at Trawsfynydd – the site of a closed Magnox station – according to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. The nuclear plant in Snowdonia National Park has been shut down since 1991 and is undergoing the lengthy process of decommissioning. The Welsh Affairs select committee said the site would make an “ideal” location to build small modular reactors, and urged the Government to designate it as a site for their construction. Trawsfynydd was not included on the list of approved sites for new nuclear construction drawn up by the Government in 2009, due to its inland, national park location and small size. But there is growing support in Wales for the idea that it could be suitable for small module reactor (SMR) technology, which is by definition smaller and proponents say will be much easier to construct.

NuScale Power has become a supporting partner of the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) in Sheffield. The two bodies said the move, which follows several years of informal collaboration, will further enable the two organisations to support each other’s ambitions to bring SMR technology to the UK. The announcement was made on the same day that Nuclear AMRC hosted NuScale Power’s first UK Supplier Day at its facility at the University of Sheffield.

For further information on SMRs see the NFLA Briefing: http://nuclearpolicy.info/docs/nuclearmonitor/NFLA_New_Nuclear_Monitor_No37.pdf   http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo87.pdf