“The NuScale power plant takes advantage of simplicity of design, modularity and smaller size to improve the economics of both construction and operation,” Surina stated. “This will help overcome the regulatory and financial hurdles impeding the construction of much larger plants.”
– Edited by Chris Smith –
Capturing “the economies of small” is pivotal in our nation’s effort to re-establish itself as an international leader in the construction of nuclear power plants, NuScale Power’s chief financial officer Jay Surina asserted Monday at the Mid-America Regulatory Conference.
“The NuScale power plant takes advantage of simplicity of design, modularity and smaller size to improve the economics of both construction and operation,” Surina stated. “This will help overcome the regulatory and financial hurdles impeding the construction of much larger plants.”
Surina explained that NuScale’s modular design comprising up to 12 small reactors means less up-front risk and cost. Utilities can order plants that can be scaled up to meet their demand requirements over time. And, smaller plants can reach many markets the large, conventional plants can’t serve due to small loads and transmission unavailability.
He said the NuScale design has moved into the forefront of efforts to license and build a smaller nuclear power plant. This is largely because the design has been confirmed under operating temperature and pressure at a test facility located at Oregon State University. It is the only small scale modular reactor design to be so tested. This should speed the review and approval process required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), he added.
A naturally cooled, light water reactor that eliminates pumps, pipes, tanks and other components required by its much larger counterparts is both safer and easier to build, Surina said. Our domestic supply chain can provide all of the required components, reducing cost and providing jobs.
NuScale Power, headquartered in Corvallis, Ore., anticipates filing a Design Certification Application with the NRC early in 2012. A plant could be in operation as soon as 2018.