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Released January 14, 2013 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Efforts to build a small modular nuclear generator took a step forward in late 2012 after the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) awarded a team led by Babcock & Wilcox Company (NYSE:BWC) (Charlotte, North Carolina) a grant of about $225 million over the next five years to continue designing, licensing and commercializing a small modular reactor (SMR). Other members of the B&W-led team include Bechtel Corporation (San Francisco, California) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee), which plans to host up to four SMRs at its site in Clinch River, Tennessee.
SMRs, sized at between 175 and 225 megawatt (MW), have been widely discussed in recent years as a way to bring smaller increments of nuclear power to market, potentially at a lower per-MW cost. It can cost $6 billion or more to build a new 1,000-MW nuclear generator. SMRs offer the nuclear industry the promise of expanding high-technology U.S. manufacturing jobs and exports, as well as maintaining America's leading role in global nuclear policy and security issues.
In a November 20, 2012, announcement of its funding decision, DoE said SMR has compact, scalable designs that are "expected to offer a host of safety, construction and economic benefits. Small modular reactors can also be made in factories and transported to sites where they would be ready to 'plug and play' upon arrival, reducing both capital costs and construction times. The smaller size also makes these reactors ideal for small electric grids and for locations that cannot support large reactors, offering utilities the flexibility to scale production as demand changes." For more on the potential benefits of SMRs, see December 28, 2010, article - POWER-GEN: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Could Create U.S. Jobs, Cut Global Carbon Emissions, and July 5, 2011, article - Are Small Modular Reactors the Future of Nuclear Power?
Sources said the SMR project developed by Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) will receive "a significant portion," said to be about half, of a $450 million grant from DoE to continue developing the reactor. In announcing the award in late November, the energy agency did not specify an exact amount of the grant, which must be matched by recipients on an at least one-to-one basis.
When DoE announced an SMR funding opportunity in March 2012, sources said the plan was to select two competing designs and divide the $450 million grant between the two. But as yet, the agency has not selected a second team. In announcing the B&W award, DoE said it plans to issue a new funding opportunity to support continued design development and certification of innovative SMR technologies. Any award made under this second funding opportunity would come out of the original $450 million set aside to support development of these new reactor technologies.
B&W's reactor technology is called mPower. Sources estimate the cost of building two mPower SMRs at TVA's Clinch River site will be about $1.8 billion. The site characterization process at Cinch River has already begun. TVA has committed to up to four mPower reactors.
B&W said its mPower SMR is designed to provide 180 MW of carbon-free electricity. It added that the new reactor is based on "advanced integral pressurized water reactor technology, which incorporates robust, passive safety protection systems within a fully underground containment structure."
The mPower design maximizes the use of proven, mature systems and components within an innovative plant architecture to reduce licensing and construction risks, B&W said, adding that the unique, security-informed, underground reactor building significantly improves plant security, and largely mitigates potential environmental impact and the effects of external events.
"The Obama administration continues to believe that low-carbon nuclear energy has an important role to play in America's energy future," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a November 20, 2012, statement announcing the award. "Restarting the nation's nuclear industry and advancing small modular reactor technologies will help create new jobs and export opportunities for American workers and businesses, and ensure we continue to take an all-of-the-above approach to American energy production."
On hearing his team won DoE funding, E. James Ferland, B&W's president and chief executive, said: "With this public-private partnership, the DoE is providing important national leadership for America in the global pursuit of SMR technology. This partnership is essential to reestablishing our nation's international competitiveness in the nuclear energy industry, as well as enhancing U.S. manufacturing infrastructure and energy independence."
"We are honored to have been selected by the DoE for this program and are appreciative of the support we have received from the U.S. Congress and the state governments of Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia."
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland) must approve the new reactor's design before construction can begin. Once construction is complete, the operator must apply to the NRC for an operating license. Thus, the SMR is not part of NRC's one-step construction and operating license for new-build reactors. TVA is preparing an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license up to four B&W mPower SMRs at its Clinch River Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The B&W team plans to submit a SMR design certification application to the NRC in 2014. DoE wants to deploy SMRs commercially by 2022.
The B&W team and its members currently have nearly 400 employees working on the development and licensing of the mPower SMR. B&W subsidiaries have executed 150 agreements with suppliers in 36 states to support the B&W mPower program. Once in the deployment stage, the mPower America project will create a significant number of new jobs at B&W manufacturing facilities and supplier facilities.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
SMRs, sized at between 175 and 225 megawatt (MW), have been widely discussed in recent years as a way to bring smaller increments of nuclear power to market, potentially at a lower per-MW cost. It can cost $6 billion or more to build a new 1,000-MW nuclear generator. SMRs offer the nuclear industry the promise of expanding high-technology U.S. manufacturing jobs and exports, as well as maintaining America's leading role in global nuclear policy and security issues.
In a November 20, 2012, announcement of its funding decision, DoE said SMR has compact, scalable designs that are "expected to offer a host of safety, construction and economic benefits. Small modular reactors can also be made in factories and transported to sites where they would be ready to 'plug and play' upon arrival, reducing both capital costs and construction times. The smaller size also makes these reactors ideal for small electric grids and for locations that cannot support large reactors, offering utilities the flexibility to scale production as demand changes." For more on the potential benefits of SMRs, see December 28, 2010, article - POWER-GEN: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Could Create U.S. Jobs, Cut Global Carbon Emissions, and July 5, 2011, article - Are Small Modular Reactors the Future of Nuclear Power?
Sources said the SMR project developed by Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) will receive "a significant portion," said to be about half, of a $450 million grant from DoE to continue developing the reactor. In announcing the award in late November, the energy agency did not specify an exact amount of the grant, which must be matched by recipients on an at least one-to-one basis.
When DoE announced an SMR funding opportunity in March 2012, sources said the plan was to select two competing designs and divide the $450 million grant between the two. But as yet, the agency has not selected a second team. In announcing the B&W award, DoE said it plans to issue a new funding opportunity to support continued design development and certification of innovative SMR technologies. Any award made under this second funding opportunity would come out of the original $450 million set aside to support development of these new reactor technologies.
B&W's reactor technology is called mPower. Sources estimate the cost of building two mPower SMRs at TVA's Clinch River site will be about $1.8 billion. The site characterization process at Cinch River has already begun. TVA has committed to up to four mPower reactors.
B&W said its mPower SMR is designed to provide 180 MW of carbon-free electricity. It added that the new reactor is based on "advanced integral pressurized water reactor technology, which incorporates robust, passive safety protection systems within a fully underground containment structure."
The mPower design maximizes the use of proven, mature systems and components within an innovative plant architecture to reduce licensing and construction risks, B&W said, adding that the unique, security-informed, underground reactor building significantly improves plant security, and largely mitigates potential environmental impact and the effects of external events.
"The Obama administration continues to believe that low-carbon nuclear energy has an important role to play in America's energy future," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a November 20, 2012, statement announcing the award. "Restarting the nation's nuclear industry and advancing small modular reactor technologies will help create new jobs and export opportunities for American workers and businesses, and ensure we continue to take an all-of-the-above approach to American energy production."
On hearing his team won DoE funding, E. James Ferland, B&W's president and chief executive, said: "With this public-private partnership, the DoE is providing important national leadership for America in the global pursuit of SMR technology. This partnership is essential to reestablishing our nation's international competitiveness in the nuclear energy industry, as well as enhancing U.S. manufacturing infrastructure and energy independence."
"We are honored to have been selected by the DoE for this program and are appreciative of the support we have received from the U.S. Congress and the state governments of Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia."
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland) must approve the new reactor's design before construction can begin. Once construction is complete, the operator must apply to the NRC for an operating license. Thus, the SMR is not part of NRC's one-step construction and operating license for new-build reactors. TVA is preparing an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license up to four B&W mPower SMRs at its Clinch River Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The B&W team plans to submit a SMR design certification application to the NRC in 2014. DoE wants to deploy SMRs commercially by 2022.
The B&W team and its members currently have nearly 400 employees working on the development and licensing of the mPower SMR. B&W subsidiaries have executed 150 agreements with suppliers in 36 states to support the B&W mPower program. Once in the deployment stage, the mPower America project will create a significant number of new jobs at B&W manufacturing facilities and supplier facilities.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
