GEH BWRX300 Gaining Traction in UK SMR Market

• UK ONR Starts GDA for BWRX300
• GEH Wins £33 Million Grant For BWRX-300 SMR
• X-Energy Completes CNSC Vendor Design Review
• Westinghouse Plans Deploying a Transportable Nuclear Reactor in Canada By 2030
• Bulgaria Opens Procurement Process for Two AP1000s
• Tender Launched for UAE Nuclear Fuel Plant
• Philippines Power Utility Identifies Three SMR Sites
• OpenAI CEO Altman Says Future of AI Depends on an Energy Breakthrough

GEH BWRX300 Gaining Traction in UK SMR Market

● ONR Begins Generic Design Assessment of 300 MWe BWR SMR
● GEH Wins £33 Million Grant from UK Govt to Further Develop its SMR

ONR Starts GDA for BWRX300

The Office for Nuclear Regulation, along with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, has started a two-step Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for GE Hitachi’s BWRX300 reactor.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero made the request to the regulators following its readiness review of the GE Hitachi application for the BWRX300 SMR. This review concluded that the reactor’s design is ready to enter the GDA process.

The firm said it will look to actively explore opportunities to maximize the value of international regulatory collaboration and identify efficiencies in processes.  GEH submitted the application in December 2023.

The GDA process allows UK regulators to assess the standards of safety, security and environmental protection of new nuclear reactor designs. GEH will be supported in the GDA by Jacobs which has supported applications for new nuclear power plant projects in the UK since 2007. In October it was announced that GEH has reached the next stage of the Great British Nuclear small modular reactor competition. GEH’s UK-based team is backed by SGE as an investor and developer.

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GEH Wins £33 Million Grant For BWRX-300 SMR

(NucNet) GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has been awarded a £33.6M (€39M) grant from the UK’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to develop its BWRX-300 small modular reactor design. GEH submitted an application for the grant from the government’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund, which is providing up to £120M to help mature nuclear projects ahead of a planned government selection process.

The application was made with a UK team including Jacobs, Laing O’Rourke and Cavendish Nuclear. The team also included Synthos Green Energy, an investor and developer from Poland.

GEH said it is developing a UK supply chain which includes a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sheffield Forgemasters for a potential supply agreement for UK-sourced steel forgings in support of the deployment of BWRX-300 SMRs. Sheffield recently completed the qualification process to be certified to fabricate nuclear components in compliance with ASME’s NQA-1 quality standard.

The UK minister for nuclear Andrew Bowie said, “Today’s £33.6 million in funding for GE Hitachi will help develop their design, putting us in an excellent position to become one of the first to deploy this game-changing tech. This means cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy for families and businesses.”

There is growing global interest in the BWRX-300. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) selected the BWRX-300 SMR technology for potential deployment in Canada as early as 2028. OPG recently submitted its license to construct one or more SMRS for the Darlington site to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

SaskPower and Tennessee Valley Authority have also selected the BWRX-300 technology for potential deployment. TVA is developing its construction permit application for the Clinch River site and is targeting submission to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2023.

In Poland, ORLEN Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) started the pre-licensing process by submitting an application to the National Atomic Energy Agency for assessment of the BWRX-300. OSGE plans to deploy a fleet of BWRX-300s with the potential for deployment of the first unit by the end of this decade.

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X-Energy Completes CNSC Vendor Design Review

• CNSC concluded there are no fundamental barriers to licensing the Xe-100, an outcome that increases confidence in proceeding with formal license applications in Canada

X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC announced that it has successfully completed milestones in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) pre-licensing Vendor Design Review (VDR). The Company submitted the design of its Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor to CNSC for a combined Phase 1 and 2 VDR process.

The Company has been engaged with CNSC in its optional VDR process since July 2020, and included the submission of more than 400 technical documents and white papers across 19 focus areas in the review. The process provides an opportunity for advanced nuclear technology developers like X-energy to demonstrate understanding and compliance with Canadian licensing requirements and seek detailed feedback ahead of a formal license application.

X-Energy said in a press statement that “the completion of the pre-licensing milestone underscores the regulatory and commercial readiness of the Xe-100 and demonstrates the opportunity to bring our advanced high-temperature gas reactor technology to the Canadian market.”

The Xe-100 can address a broad range of uses and applications, including applications that currently rely on fossil fuels to produce steam and high temperature heat for processes like manufacturing, natural resource extraction, petroleum refining and hydrogen production.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program is supporting X-energy’s initial deployment of the Xe-100 at Dow’s Seadrift, Texas facility and a new commercial facility to manufacture TRISO-X high-assay low-enriched uranium-based fuel for next-generation reactors. The project in Seadrift will be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America.

X-energy has also signed a joint development agreement with utility Energy Northwest for the deployment of up to 12 Xe-100 plants in central Washington State.

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Westinghouse Plans Deploying a Transportable Nuclear Reactor in Canada By 2030

• The firm, which is wholly owned by Canadian firms, plans a ‘Plug and play’ micro-plant will be deliverable to ‘anywhere’

(NucNet) Westinghouse is seeing significant interest in a project to build a transportable nuclear power plant that will provide “always-on” power in areas where the construction of nuclear projects would be traditionally considered economically or technically impractical.

Westinghouse and Prodigy Clean Energy, a Canadian developer of marine-and-land-based transportable nuclear power plants, or TNPPs, are designing what they say is a solution for the constant demands for electricity and heat in these types of harsh, remote climates.

Their TNPP would have a 5-MW Westinghouse eVinci microreactor and would be prefabricated and transported to a site for installation at the shoreline or on land. The first unit could be operating in Canada by 2030.

“From the start, our eVinci technology was designed to be transportable, that was a key design principle,” said Jon Ball, eVinci technologies president for Westinghouse.

“So, we designed it to be small, we made it plug-and-play, and we made it deliverable to anywhere. The TNPP from Prodigy brings an additional value to the inherent transportability of the technology.”

The eVinci microreactor uses heat pipes filled with liquid sodium to transfer heat from the reactor core to a power generation system. It requires no water in its operation, so no cooling pumps or other systems found in traditional light water reactors. It has few moving parts while operating, which it can do for eight-plus years without refueling. Because of these attributes it is often referred to as a nuclear battery.

Westinghouse and Prodigy signed an agreement in 2022 and have completed milestones for conceptual engineering and regulatory studies.

Westinghouse said the next steps for the project include completing the TNPP design for the eVinci microreactor, completing development of a nuclear oversight model for TNPP manufacturing, outfitting and transport, and achieving progress in licensing and site assessments to support a first project.

Westinghouse is jointly owned by Brookfield, a Canadian private equity firm and Cameco, a Canadian uranium miner.

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Bulgaria Opens Procurement Process for Two AP1000s

• Invitation issued to express interest in Kozloduy 7 construction

(WNN) EPC firms will have a short turnaround to submit expressions of interest by February 2, 2024, to kick off the procurement process for the engineering, construction, procurement and commissioning of two new AP1000 units at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant site by 2035.

This is a request for information (RFI) and not the tender itself. The initial process is for prequalification of candidates against eligibility and qualification criteria. The shortlisted candidates will submit their best and final offers in response to a formal tender.

The overall objective and result of the current assignment is to have the first AP1000 plant commissioned and operational before 2035. Westinghouse will have the overall design authority responsibility for the AP1000 plant. The responsibilities for the design of individual AP1000 plant systems and buildings can be delegated by Westinghouse.

The RFI said in part, “The prequalification and award criteria include the technical capacity and reputation of the candidate and “experience as leading constructor in contract/s for construction and commissioning of at least two nuclear units, experience in contract/s for detailed design of systems, structures and components within nuclear island or turbine island of nuclear plant for at least two nuclear units and experience in contract/s for supply and installation of important equipment within nuclear island or turbine island of at least two nuclear units.”

The RFI also requires provision of evidence of bidders’ “sound financial and economic standing.” The document specifically excludes candidates from the Russian Federation.

Bulgaria is aiming to have two new Westinghouse AP1000 units at Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Deputy Energy Minister Nikolay Nikolov told Bulgaria’s official BTA news agency in December that the aim was to achieve a price of about EUR6 billion (USD6.5 billion) for each of the units. It also quoted him as saying that potential EPC companies had been narrowed down to Bechtel, Fluor and Hyundai, and that the Bulgarian state was expected to be the only investor in the project.

The decision by the Bulgarian government to be the sole source of financing the project is a fundamental change from earlier policies in which it tried to place the responsibility for funding on the vendor.

When the decision to move ahead with AP1000 units at Kozloduy was given approval by the country’s council of ministers in October, the target date for the completion of the first unit was 2033, with the second unit to follow “two or three years after the first one.”

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Tender Launched for UAE Nuclear Fuel Plant

(WNN) The UAE’s Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced it has launched a tender for a domestic nuclear fuel assembly fabrication facility. The facility will produce fuel assemblies for the Barakah nuclear power plant.

“Over the past 18 months, we have been conducting an extensive review into the needs of the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program going forwards and specifically the strategic supply of the fuel assemblies needed to power the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant over the next 60 years ahead,” ENEC said.

“As part of examining a range of options, we have entered into the tendering for a domestic fuel assembly fabrication facility.”

It said the facility would be dedicated to the industrial fabrication of fuel assemblies from their various components.

“Although the fuel assembly facility will neither involve enrichment or reprocessing, the fabrication of fuel assemblies remains a regulated nuclear activity, given the need for stringent nuclear quality standards.”

The nuclear fuel fabrication process. Image: World Nuclear Association

The UAE embarked on its plan to implement a nuclear energy program in 2008 when its government made the decision to build and operate a nuclear power plant to provide 25% of the country’s electricity needs, diversifying its energy sources and supporting its long-term energy vision and net zero goals. Construction of the first unit began in 2012, and Barakah 1 was connected to the grid in 2020. The fourth and final unit at the plant is currently preparing to start up.

As part of its nuclear energy policy, the UAE made the decision to forgo domestic uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel reprocessing, two key elements of the country’s commitment to non-proliferation.

To obtain nuclear fuel for the Barakah plant, ENEC conducted an extensive procurement competition with international nuclear fuel suppliers. Once the procurement process was complete, the company entered into contracts with six suppliers to provide materials and services, including: the purchase of natural uranium concentrate; the purchase of enriched uranium product and related products and services; and conversion and enrichment services.

Fuel assemblies are currently manufactured in South Korea by Kepco Nuclear Fuel – part of the prime contractor consortium led by Korea Electric Power Company – and then shipped to the UAE.

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Philippines Power Utility Identifies Three SMR Sites

(NucNet) The largest power utility in the Philippines has identified three potential sites for potential construction of a “proof of concept” small modular reactor. The announcement is intended to promote the government’s policy of using nuclear energy to meet the island nation’s future needs for electricity.

The three sites are Talim Island to the southeast of the capital Manila, San Rafael, about 60 km to the north of Manila and Isla del Provisor, a coastal area in Manila itself.

The Philippines and the US previously announced they had signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement known as a “123 Agreement” that will give Manila access to US nuclear material and equipment. Several US SMR developers are known to be conducting feasibility studies expected to support future responses to government tenders for SMRs.

Reports in the Philippines said recently that the government is preparing a revised energy roadmap that will include nuclear power with plans for the nation’s first reactor units to be online by 2032 and more to follow by 2050.

Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been bullish on nuclear energy, saying “this is the right time” to reexamine the country’s approach and policy towards using nuclear energy.

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OpenAI CEO Altman Says Future of AI Depends on an Energy Breakthrough

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman said at a forum held at the Davos conference in Switzerland that an energy breakthrough is necessary for future artificial intelligence.

It is needed, he said, because the semiconductors that process AI applications consume enormous amounts of electrical power. Altman said the power requirements are much greater than he expected.

He told the Reuters news wire, “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough,” he said. “It motivates us to go invest more in fusion.”

Altman said he wished the world would embrace nuclear fission as an energy source as well.

In 2021, Altman invested $375 million in privately held U.S. nuclear fusion company Helion Energy, which has since signed a power purchase agreement to provide energy to Microsoft in future years.

Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest financial backer having invested $13 billion in the firm and provides computing resources for AI.

Microsoft’s Commitment to Nuclear Fission and Fusion

Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI which is one big bet by any measure.  If it is going to realize a return on that investment, it will need unprecedented amounts of electrical power to run the data centers that will process AI software applications.

The firm recently published a 17-page white paper on its approach to nuclear energy – fission and fusion. The white paper was completed last month about the same time the firm hired its first two senior level managers to run the firm’s engagement with and use of nuclear energy.

In December Microsoft hired two key managers to work on the use of nuclear energy to power the firm’s global data centers. They are Archie Manoharan as Director of Nuclear Technologies and Erin Henderson as Director of Nuclear Development Acceleration. Both managers come to their respective positions with significant nuclear energy industry experience.

Microsoft is committing to using digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, to unravel the complexity and, presumably the cost, of regulator processes.

In the white paper the firm writes, “Digital technology can accelerate innovation and integration. We are using our expertise in AI, cloud, and digital platforms to help our customers and partners in the nuclear and fusion industry streamline processes, optimize performance, and enhance safety and security.”

Bill Gates is an investor in TerraPower which is planning to build a first of a kind advanced sodium cooled 345 MWe nuclear reactor at the site of a former coal fired power plant in Kemmerer, WY. Pacific Corp, which owns the plant, has an MOU with TerraPower to build additional units to replace five other coal fired plants.

TerraPower’s effort is funded in part under a cost sharing grant of federal funds as part of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Development Program.

Microsoft has also entered into a strategic partnership with Terra-Praxis to repower coal-fired power plants.

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