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Released November 02, 2020 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the Electric Power industry increasingly grapples with the challenges of decarbonization, both domestically and overseas, one potentially promising technology, small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), got a $1.355 billion boost last month from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).
The energy agency awarded a 10-year cost-sharing grant to NuScale Power (Portland, Oregon), whose majority owner is Fluor Incorporated (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas), to demonstrate and deploy 12 of its planned 60-megawatt (MW) reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) (Idaho Falls, Idaho).
Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025, and the first SMR is scheduled to be operating four years later. The October 16 award notice from the DOE follows this summer's approval of NuScale's 50-MW SMR reactor design by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland). NuScale will have to gain the NRC's approval for its 60-MW SMR reactor design, which will be the units scheduled to be manufactured and deployed at INL. According to the NRC, NuScale plans to apply in 2022 for standard design approval of a 60 MW version of its reactor design.
The customer for the SMR complex is the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) (Salt Lake City, Utah), a group of 47 small power districts located in Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. The SMR project is called the Carbon-Free Power Project, LLC (CFPP), which is wholly owned by UAMPS.
Industrial Info currently assesses a UAMPS SMR demonstration project and SMR Units 2-12 Addition as having a low probability (0-69%) of moving forward as planned.
"DOE's recent agreement for UAMPS' Carbon Free Power Project is a big step forward in helping to lower the risk of first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies like NuScale Power, DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said October 16 in announcing the cost-sharing grant. "Global leadership starts at home, and this project will be instrumental in the deployment of SMRs around the world."
Douglas Hunter, chief executive and general manager of UAMPS, added: "We appreciate this tremendous vote of confidence in CFPP by the Department of Energy. It is entirely appropriate for DOE to help de-risk this first-of-a kind, next-generation nuclear project. This is a great example of a partnership with DOE to lower the cost of introduction of transformative advanced nuclear technology that will provide affordable, carbon-free electricity all over the country and the world. This project is much bigger than UAMPS itself."
Carlos Hernandez, chief executive of Fluor, commented: "Together with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff's recent approval of NuScale's (50-MW) design, this potential funding from DOE and Congress will help launch an important new sustainable, carbon-free base load energy technology."
The award will serve as a funding vehicle to advance the CFPP as funds are appropriated by Congress.
There's a lot riding on development of a non-emitting generation resource that can meet electric demand as well as back up intermittent resources like wind and solar. Should 2020 be the year that the SMR vision begins to take shape, it will be as the "nuclear renaissance" draws to a close with the completion of two advanced passive (AP) nuclear units at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station in Georgia. The construction of those units, years late and billions of dollars over budget, coupled with the cancellation of two partially built AP units in South Carolina, effectively ended a decade of hope and hype about a "nuclear renaissance" powered by a new generation of AP reactors.
NuScale and UAMPS predict the SMR units will be able to generate electricity at a levelized cost of $55 per megawatt-hour (MWh).
UAMPS spokesperson LaVarr Webb said there was vast potential for the SMR. "Can UAMPS save the world from climate change?" he asked rhetorically. "The world is watching to see if the utility consortium can build the country's first small modular nuclear reactor -- and usher in a new generation of carbon-free, reliable, flexible, scalable power generation."
Beyond power generation, successful deployment of SMRs could expedite the electrification of transportation around the world, a trend BP Plc (NYSE:BP) (London, United Kingdom), the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France) and a lot of analysts expect. For more on that, see September 16, 2020, article - BP: Renewables, Electric Vehicles to See Sharp Global Growth in Coming Decades.
If SMRs are as safe and cost effective as NuScale Power claims, and can be manufactured and deployed according to schedule, UAMPS' Bell said "the potential goes beyond just decarbonizing electrical generation nationally and internationally. SMRs also could eliminate carbon emissions and pollution from manufacturing, the transportation system, industrial processes, and home and office heating and cooling. All economic sectors could go clean, eliminating fossil fuels and carbon emissions."
But UAMPS' Hunter would like to manage everyone's expectations: "That's way too much pressure," he says in an anecdote relayed by spokesperson Bell. "I'm just trying to build a power plant."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
The energy agency awarded a 10-year cost-sharing grant to NuScale Power (Portland, Oregon), whose majority owner is Fluor Incorporated (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas), to demonstrate and deploy 12 of its planned 60-megawatt (MW) reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) (Idaho Falls, Idaho).
Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025, and the first SMR is scheduled to be operating four years later. The October 16 award notice from the DOE follows this summer's approval of NuScale's 50-MW SMR reactor design by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland). NuScale will have to gain the NRC's approval for its 60-MW SMR reactor design, which will be the units scheduled to be manufactured and deployed at INL. According to the NRC, NuScale plans to apply in 2022 for standard design approval of a 60 MW version of its reactor design.
The customer for the SMR complex is the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) (Salt Lake City, Utah), a group of 47 small power districts located in Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. The SMR project is called the Carbon-Free Power Project, LLC (CFPP), which is wholly owned by UAMPS.
Industrial Info currently assesses a UAMPS SMR demonstration project and SMR Units 2-12 Addition as having a low probability (0-69%) of moving forward as planned.
"DOE's recent agreement for UAMPS' Carbon Free Power Project is a big step forward in helping to lower the risk of first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies like NuScale Power, DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said October 16 in announcing the cost-sharing grant. "Global leadership starts at home, and this project will be instrumental in the deployment of SMRs around the world."
Douglas Hunter, chief executive and general manager of UAMPS, added: "We appreciate this tremendous vote of confidence in CFPP by the Department of Energy. It is entirely appropriate for DOE to help de-risk this first-of-a kind, next-generation nuclear project. This is a great example of a partnership with DOE to lower the cost of introduction of transformative advanced nuclear technology that will provide affordable, carbon-free electricity all over the country and the world. This project is much bigger than UAMPS itself."
Carlos Hernandez, chief executive of Fluor, commented: "Together with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff's recent approval of NuScale's (50-MW) design, this potential funding from DOE and Congress will help launch an important new sustainable, carbon-free base load energy technology."
The award will serve as a funding vehicle to advance the CFPP as funds are appropriated by Congress.
There's a lot riding on development of a non-emitting generation resource that can meet electric demand as well as back up intermittent resources like wind and solar. Should 2020 be the year that the SMR vision begins to take shape, it will be as the "nuclear renaissance" draws to a close with the completion of two advanced passive (AP) nuclear units at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station in Georgia. The construction of those units, years late and billions of dollars over budget, coupled with the cancellation of two partially built AP units in South Carolina, effectively ended a decade of hope and hype about a "nuclear renaissance" powered by a new generation of AP reactors.
NuScale and UAMPS predict the SMR units will be able to generate electricity at a levelized cost of $55 per megawatt-hour (MWh).
UAMPS spokesperson LaVarr Webb said there was vast potential for the SMR. "Can UAMPS save the world from climate change?" he asked rhetorically. "The world is watching to see if the utility consortium can build the country's first small modular nuclear reactor -- and usher in a new generation of carbon-free, reliable, flexible, scalable power generation."
Beyond power generation, successful deployment of SMRs could expedite the electrification of transportation around the world, a trend BP Plc (NYSE:BP) (London, United Kingdom), the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France) and a lot of analysts expect. For more on that, see September 16, 2020, article - BP: Renewables, Electric Vehicles to See Sharp Global Growth in Coming Decades.
If SMRs are as safe and cost effective as NuScale Power claims, and can be manufactured and deployed according to schedule, UAMPS' Bell said "the potential goes beyond just decarbonizing electrical generation nationally and internationally. SMRs also could eliminate carbon emissions and pollution from manufacturing, the transportation system, industrial processes, and home and office heating and cooling. All economic sectors could go clean, eliminating fossil fuels and carbon emissions."
But UAMPS' Hunter would like to manage everyone's expectations: "That's way too much pressure," he says in an anecdote relayed by spokesperson Bell. "I'm just trying to build a power plant."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
