On Tuesday, small modular reactor developer NuScale Power announced it has completed testing for a new steam generator technology.
The helical coil steam generator is contained within the 45 megawatt SMR module. The company has been conducting full-scale tests of the technology at SIET laboratories in Italy under the review of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Tests covered a broad range of operating conditions while providing benchmark data for computer models. The NRC conducted a quality assurance inspection of the testing and was satisfied with the results, according to a NuScale release.
Backed by Fluor, the company recently won the Department of Energy's second round of matching funds to develop and license SMRs. NuScale began working with the NRC through the pre-application review process in 2008.