Go big or go home.
NuScale Power ($SMR) announced last week that it has received NRC standard design approval for its second SMR plan. This reactor has the capacity to produce 77 MW of energy, compared to the 50 MW version of the design that the regulator approved in 2020.
- The 77 MW version of the reactor is intended as a unit in a group of six, forming a 462 MW plant called the US460. NuScale said that the configuration can scale up to a 12-reactor, 924 MW electric plant.
- The 50 MW design was approved by the NRC as part of a 12-reactor plant called the US600.
“With today’s announcement, NuScale continues to advance with ENTRA1 Energy in the commercialization of our SMR technology inside ENTRA1 Energy Plants while remaining steadfast in our mission to improve the quality of life for people around the world through safe, clean energy,” Carrie Fosaaen, NuScale’s VP of regulatory affairs and services, said in a release.
The 77 MW design is expected to better serve data center customers, the company said.
It took the NRC less than two years to approve this design—faster than anticipated, but slower than the 18-month timeline for new reactor application reviews that will be imposed under an executive order passed last Friday.
The path to deployment: NuScale has two reactor designs licensed, but no solid customer orders yet in place in the US. The now-canceled Carbon Free Power Project, a partnership between NuScale and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to build a commercial nuclear plant at Idaho National Laboratory, would have established a 462 MW plant using six 77 MW reactors.
In the Q1 investor presentation last month, NuScale CEO John Hopkins said that the company expects a solid customer deal by the end of the year.
- It’s also the nuclear reactor supplier for Fluor’s project to build an SMR development in Romania.
What now? NuScale has two reactor designs licensed but doesn’t have permission to construct a plant. The company or a development partner would need to apply and receive a construction permit from the NRC in order to build a plant in the US.
Lead Reporter of Ignition
