Increasing Interest in SMRs

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) designer, NuScale Power, is expanding its use of engineering simulation solutions from ANSYS, the company said on 5 November. The new multi-year agreement will provide NuScale with access to a broad range of ANSYS's engineering simulation solutions to accelerate design and minimize time to market in developing SMR prototypes. The NuScale SMR is a 160MWt, 50 MWe integral pressurised water reactor (PWR) with natural circulation.

NuScale will use ANSYS technology to simulate designs for module containment, thermal hydraulics and structural integrity of reactor power modules, instead of solely relying on costly physical prototypes and testing. NuScale executive vice-president Tom Mundy told Nuclear Energy Insider that the company aims to use advanced manufacturing techniques, savings on facility costs and economies of scale to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of its plants to $90/MWh. NuScale is developing its technology with a cost-sharing award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) worth $217 million over five years. NuScale plans to deliver its first commercial plant in late 2023 at an LCOE of $100/MWh, Nuclear Energy Insider reported.

The 600 MWe plant will comprise 50MWe modules and will be delivered to owner-operator Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to coincide with expected closures of fossil-fueled generating assets. NuScale is on track to submit a design licence application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2016 and its first customer, Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems, plans to submit a construction and operating licence (COL) application late in 2017 or early 2018 for the first unit.

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