Engineering and construction giant Becthel announced it will join forces with GE Hitachi, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Exelon Power Generation Company to investigate efficient ways to develop and build a nuclear power plant using GE Hitachi's BWRX-300 reactors.
The aim of the research is to identify ways to reduce plant completion costs from 40 to 60 percent versus other small modular reactors to ensure the model developed by its partners is competitive in energy markets today and in the future.
The Department of Energy recently announced it would provide 80 percent of the expected research costs up to about $2 million.
SMRs reduce costs through simplified designs and smaller sizes when compared with traditional light-water reactors, Bechtel said. "That results in the use of fewer construction materials and the ability to apply unique modularization and innovative construction techniques. In some cases, SMRs and modules can be built inside factories and then shipped to plant construction sites for final installation."
Bechtel was involved on construction of Unit 2 in Tennessee, the last reactor to start up in the United States and the first to come online in the 21st century. The company is now completing construction on Plants Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Waynesboro, Georgia, the only active nuclear power plant construction project in the United States.