ECA Update: NRC certifies first U.S. small modular reactor; Application submitted for French geologic disposal facility

Published: Fri, 01/20/23

ECA Update

NUCLEAR ENERGY

NRC certifies first U.S. small modular reactor

DOE-NE | 1/20/2023

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its final rule in the Federal Register to certify NuScale Power’s small modular reactor.

The company’s power module becomes the first SMR design certified by the NRC and just the seventh reactor design cleared for use in the United States.

The rule takes effects February 21, 2023 and equips the nation with a new clean power source to help drive down emissions across the country.

Historic Rule Making

The published final rule making allows utilities to reference NuScale’s SMR design when applying for a combined license to build and operate a reactor.

The design is an advanced light-water SMR with each power module capable of generating 50 megawatts of emissions-free electricity.

NuScale’s VOYGR™ SMR power plant can house up to 12 factory-built power modules that are about a third of the size of a large-scale reactor. Each power module leverages natural processes, such as convection and gravity, to passively cool the reactor without additional water, power, or even operator action.

The NRC accepted NuScale’s SMR design certification application back in March 2018 and issued its final technical review in August 2020. The NRC Commission later voted to certify the design on July 29, 2022—making it the first SMR approved by the NRC for use in the United States.

"We are thrilled to announce the historic rulemaking from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for NuScale’s small modular reactor design, and we thank the Department of Energy (DOE) for their support throughout this process,” said NuScale Power President and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins. “The DOE has been an invaluable partner with a shared common goal – to establish an innovative and reliable carbon-free source of energy here in the U.S. We look forward to continuing our partnership and working with the DOE to bring the UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project to completion."

“SMRs are no longer an abstract concept,” said Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Kathryn Huff. “They are real and they are ready for deployment thanks to the hard work of NuScale, the university community, our national labs, industry partners, and the NRC. This is innovation at its finest and we are just getting started here in the U.S.!”

NuScale is currently seeking an uprate to enable each module to generate up to 77 megawatts. The NRC is expected to review their application this year.

Supporting SMR Development

The U.S. Department Energy provided more than $600 million since 2014 to support the design, licensing, and siting of NuScale’s VOYGR SMR power plant and other domestic SMR concepts.

DOE is currently working with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) through the Carbon Free Power Project to demonstrate a six-module NuScale VOYGR plant at Idaho National Laboratory.

The first module is expected to be operational by 2029 with full plant operation the following year.

UAMPS finished subsurface field investigation activities at the proposed INL site and expects to submit a combined license application to the NRC in the first quarter of 2024.

NuScale Power has 19 signed and active domestic and international agreements to deploy SMR plants in 12 different countries, including Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Jordan in addition to the Carbon Free Power Project.

Learn more about NuScale Power design certification process with the NRC.

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IN OTHER NEWS

WASTE & DISPOSITION

Submission of the application for authorization to create Cigéo

Andra | 1/17/23

On January 16th, Andra submitted the construction licence application (DAC) of Cigeo, the French project for the deep geological disposal facility for the most highly radioactive waste. This is a crucial step marking both a culmination and a new start for the project.

The following is a message from Pierre-Marie Abadie, Chief Executive Officer of Andra:

"First and foremost, it is the result of 30 years of progressive development under regular evaluation. Over time, the scientific and technological aspects of the project have been refined. Today, we are submitting a construction licence application file (DAC) for Cigeo, based on well‑defined design principles and a robust safety demonstration.

But the submission of the application and the upcoming review by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), together, also represent the start of a new phase: Cigeo is getting ready for the construction phase and Andra is becoming the operator. Although Cigeo still needs additional development and refinement, the Agency is already responsible for it, in terms of reporting to the ASN.

With the submission, Cigeo reaches the point when a national project, supported by the State, meets a host region, a territory. Meuse and Haute-Marne districts are making their contribution to this work in the public interest, i.e. long-term management of radioactive waste, on the nation’s behalf. We owe them a debt of recognition and our assurance of continuing support and involvement of local stakeholders in future decisions and choices. This is the guarantee of a lasting trust.

To put the project into perspective: the next few years ultimately represent a relatively short period, when compared with not only the decades of work that have gone before, but also the project’s hundred-year deployment period, and even the challenge of geological disposal, aiming to offer a safe waste management solution for the next few hundred thousand years. Today we are demonstrating our responsibility to future generations, especially against the background of uncertainty in our society, to make sure that we do not leave them with the burden of the radioactive waste that we have produced.

With today’s submission Andra is publishing new documents on Cigéo and, would you be interested in reading them, we kindly invite you to visit our websites: https://international.andra.fr/ and https://www.andra.fr/.

Finally, I take the opportunity of this announcement, in my name and on behalf Andra, to wish you a very happy new year."

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

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