Company designing its plants so that all major components are modular
– By Mark McFadden –
NuScale Power made major progress in 2008 toward commercialization and Federal certification of its modular, scalable 40 MWe nuclear electric power plant, noted Paul Lorenzini, the company's Chief Executive Officer.
"The advances made in 2008 are testament to the team working on the project at NuScale and around the country, as well as the elegance and simplicity of the design," said Lorenzini.
NuScale is designing its plants so that all major components are modular with the more complex components manufactured and assembled away from the plant construction site. Modular components include the turbine-generator set and the nuclear steam supply system. "In 2008, NuScale verified that it can manufacture all of the modular components at existing facilities in the United States," said Lorenzini. "Our goal in 2009 is to secure agreements with all of the manufacturers that will fabricate and assemble the modular components for NuScale plants."
NuScale initiated the pre-application portion of the Design Certification process with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February 2008. The pre-application process is structured to ensure that new designs are as complete as possible when submitted to the NRC for certification. NuScale had its first meeting with the NRC in July and its second meeting in November. A third meeting is planned for March 2009. NuScale expects to submit its Design Certification application in late 2010.
"We are pleased with the interactions NuScale is having with NRC staff and the resources the agency is committing to the process," said Lorenzini. "The fact that NuScale is based on light water technology means that the NRC can review the design using its existing knowledge base and technical codes," he said. "In addition, NuScale has a one-third scale, electrically-heated prototype at Oregon State University. We will use the prototype to perform many of the tests and simulations that the NRC will require for Design Certification."
Kiewit Constructors provided substantial design and engineering support to NuScale as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2008. "Through our combined efforts we have made significant progress on overall plant design including the major structures and the balance-of-plant that takes steam from the nuclear system and uses it to produce electricity," said Lorenzini.
In addition, Kiewit and NuScale are preparing a comprehensive cost estimate for NuScale power plants. "Our goal is to provide customers with the most accurate estimate possible for the cost to build and operate a NuScale power plant," Lorenzini said. "Any estimate will have numerous variables. But we believe we can draw a clearer picture of costs due to the simplicity of the NuScale design and the modular manufacturing process," he said.
"Once the integrity and safety of the design is confirmed by the NRC through Design Certification, we believe that NuScale's ability to manufacture the major components in a factory setting in the United States will enhance quality control and make costs more predictable," Lorenzini said. "The ability to ensure the highest levels of quality while effectively managing cost is critical to meeting future power needs of the electric utility industry."
Design progress
In 2008, NuScale assembled a team of the nuclear industry's leading scientists, engineers and consultants to support the advancement of key elements of its design. "NuScale is attracting the top talent and internationally-recognized experts in nuclear power to help it with design and analysis," said Dr. Jose Reyes, NuScale Chief Technical Officer. "With their support we are making rapid progress in achieving our design and safety analysis milestones."
The safety inherent in the passive cooling used in the NuScale's design was confirmed by a panel of leading scientists in July 2008. It determined that the NuScale design eliminates the risk of both large and small loss of coolant accidents.
"The panel's preliminary review found that the use of natural circulation and passive cooling during both normal operations and shutdown modes should have a significant affect on improving safety," said Reyes.
Milestones ahead for NuScale in 2009 include:
Submittal of Technical Reports to the NRC as part of the pre-application review process.
An additional pre-application meeting with the NRC in mid-year.
Completion of the NuScale plant simulator.