Bennett Hall reports that nearly a decade after setting up shop to commercialize technology developed at Oregon State University, NuScale Power has become the first company to submit a design certification application for a small modular reactor (SMR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The company, a Fluor Corp. subsidiary which is headquartered in Portland and employs hundreds of people in Corvallis, filed the application on Thursday and announced the milestone during a press conference in Washington, D.C.
John Hopkins, a former Fluor executive who championed the heavy construction company investment in the next-generation nuclear technology before becoming NuScale CEO in late 2012, called SMRs the future of the nuclear power industry.
Hopkins indicated that that the NuScale small modular reactor is a disruptive technology with the potential to change the world. A number of other industry and government officials praised the NuScale achievement, including a half-dozen congressmen from states where the company has important business connections.
Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat who represents Oregon 5th District, said the company has not only created hundreds of jobs in his state but offers important benefits for the entire country.
Several speakers talked up NuScale design and nuclear power in general as a clean energy option for generating electricity without the greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels.
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