McLean, Va.-based Lightbridge Corporation said Tuesday that it has signed a Comprehensive Nuclear Services Agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for fabrication of the company's next generation metallic nuclear fuel test samples at the CNL facilities at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada.
The agreement provides the framework to proceed with Phases 2 and 3 of the test fuel sample fabrication at CNL’s facilities in Chalk River as envisioned in an October 2014 Initial Cooperation Agreement, Lightbridge said in a circulated announcement.
The initial scope of work under the comprehensive nuclear services agreement involves development of a fabrication plan in 2015. Subsequent activities will include fabrication and characterization in early 2016 of prototype fuel test samples using depleted uranium, to be followed by fabrication in late 2016 of irradiation fuel test samples using low enriched uranium for loop irradiation testing under prototypic commercial reactor operating conditions in a pressurized water loop of the 25MW nuclear research reactor operated by the Institute for Energy Technology at Halden, Norway.
Lightbridge-designed metallic fuel enables existing reactor fleets to expand their generating capacity at the lowest total levelized cost per megawatt-hour of incremental electricity which is a lower cost than even a new-build combined cycle gas-fired power plant. These independently validated economic benefits would allow existing nuclear power plants to generate an internal rate of return in excess of 30% on a net basis after payment of incremental fuel costs and Lightbridge royalty fees. New-build reactors can also benefit from a 30 percent power uprate using this patented metallic fuel design that could reduce construction costs per kilowatt-electric of new generating capacity. In addition to enhanced power plant economics, Lightbridge-designed metallic fuel provides improved fuel performance and increased safety margins. The safety benefits would give the plant operator more time to add water to the reactor in case of severe accidents. Finally, there is less spent fuel generated per kilowatt-hour of electricity, and the spent fuel has reduced long-term radio-toxicity with non-proliferation benefits.
The global commercial nuclear energy industry is projected to grow rapidly as demand for reliable, carbon-free, base load electric power increases. There are currently 436 operating civil nuclear reactors in 30 countries around the world, with an additional 67 reactors under construction and 488 on order, planned or proposed, according to the World Nuclear Association. By 2035, the International Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects a 58 percent increase in nuclear capacity from a combination of power uprates and reactor construction.