A recent study has shown that a small modular reactor could save money at the Hanford site by providing low-cost power for its massive waste vitrification facility.
Using funds from the state, a central-Washington economic development agency commissioned the study earlier this year to explore the potential benefits of SMRs at the Cold War-era cleanup site. Study contractor URS Corp.'s initial findings were presented to legislators last week. The analysis found that an SMR could potentially save $800 million compared to the current plan to run the waste plant on 45,000 gallons of diesel each day. The Tri-City Herald reported the study also found that Energy Northwest's nearby WNP-1 site also offers the potential for $300 million in construction savings for an SMR. WNP-1 was started as a sister unit to the Columbia Generating Station but was abandoned partially complete in the early 1980s. Its existing infrastructure – as well as data compiled as part of the 2012 CGS relicensing and the potential for shared services with CGS – could reduce the costs of an SMR and cut its construction time by a year.
The study noted that the earliest an SMR could come online would be in the mid-2020s, which nonetheless aligns with the expected opening of the vitrification plant. The group overseeing the study also took note of the potential to use the SMR to establish a local manufacturing industry to build and ship SMR units abroad.