Westinghouse Electric Company and State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a partnership that would enable the two companies to work together to develop a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) standard design, based on the Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor technology, that shall be licensable both in the U.S. and China.
Westinghouse believes that global investment and access to global markets are essential components to making commercial operation of SMR plants a reality, and this MOU provides a potential path to establish such a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership.
“Both Westinghouse and SNPTC have expressed the desire to build a framework for cooperation in SMR development that explores the potential of both domestic and international markets. Toward that end, we are in the early stages of negotiations of an agreement that we expect will provide design, licensing, construction, and operational certainty that no other SMR supplier can match. We expect to be the first to market with the support of our Missouri-based partners in the U.S. and SNPTC in China,” Westinghouse Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Kate Jackson said. “Our partnership with SNPTC will position our SMR design for international markets by combining the expertise of two leading technology providers. We will bring to market a highly innovative SMR design that uses proven components and systems, and provides superior safety performance, efficiency, ease of operation, cost predictability, and rapid deployment.”
Westinghouse expects that this partnership would accelerate the commercial deployment of SMR technology in the U.S., and anticipates the SMR plants deployed in the U.S. would be sourced and manufactured in-country.
The Westinghouse SMR design is derived from the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant, which received U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Design Certification in 2011.