General Atomics has entered the running for Department of Energy funding to develop small modular reactors with a version of its helium-cooled fast reactor.
Its Energy Multiplier Module, also called the EM2, is a significant departure from the light-water SMR technology under consideration from its biggest competitors, Westinghouse, Holtec International and NuScale. Nonetheless, General Atomics Senior Vice President John Parmentola said in an announcement Friday, “EM2 has all of the innovative design characteristics required to achieve the important goals of this program. We are developing a small modular reactor with, in the DOE’s words, ‘the potential to address the nation’s economic, environmental and energy-security goals.’”
The DOE has set aside as much as $452 million to help commercialize SMRs, granting the first portion of that funding to Babcock & Wilcox last year. Hybrid Power Technologies and National Project Management Corp. have also applied for DOE funding for their respective gas-cooled reactors. Meanwhile, Gen4 Energy is developing a 25 megawatt liquid-metal-cooled SMR but decided not to pursue the first round of the funding opportunity, citing a presumptive advantage for somewhat larger LWRs under the program's guidelines. That company, along with General Atomics, Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi, was selected to take part in a different $3.5 million DOE research program for advanced nuclear technologies in June.
General Atomics' Generation IV SMR is based on its larger high-temperature, helium-cooled reactor design. Each SMR unit can generate about 240 megawatts. The company reported it is significantly more efficient than traditional designs and has the ability to run without refueling for 30 years while burning spent LWR fuel with a 12 percent-enriched uranium "starter."