The UK authorities has narrowed its shortlist of applied sciences competing in its flagship Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competitors to 4 candidates. On Sept. 25, it introduced that Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Vitality (GEH), Holtec Britain, and Rolls-Royce SMR stay within the operating to barter probably multi-billion-pound nuclear expertise improvement contracts beneath the fast-track initiative aimed toward delivering an operational SMR by the mid-2030s.
Nice British Nuclear (GBN)—the federal government physique tasked with delivering the UK’s fourfold nuclear energy enlargement—in a brief notice, mentioned the 4 corporations had cleared the preliminary part of the SMR expertise choice course of. “Within the subsequent stage of the procurement course of, bidders will likely be invited to enter negotiations with GBN,” it mentioned.
The 4 corporations’ applied sciences had been amongst six shortlisted by GBN in October 2023 to vie for the following stage of the aggressive course of that it launched in July 2023. In March 2024, the six distributors had been invited to submit preliminary tenders for the two-stage contract for design, improvement, and building contract.
When it introduced its shortlist final yr, GBN anticipated awarding contracts by summer time 2024. Nonetheless, delays have been reportedly compounded by a variety of elements, together with the UK’s snap technology election in July 2024, which led to the defeat of the governing Conservative Get together, led by Rishi Sunak by the opposition Labour Get together, led by Keir Starmer, in a landslide victory. No up to date timeline has been supplied, however GBN has reiterated its dedication to creating the competitors “the quickest of its type on the planet.”
EDF and NuScale Out of the Working
Whereas EDF’s 340-MW NUWARD pressurized water reactor (PWR) was a part of the preliminary shortlist, the French firm withdrew from the competitors in July 2024, citing an “incompatibility between the extent of dedication and the time schedule required by GBN and the extent of maturity of the Nuward SMR.”
GBN’s down-selection unveiled on Wednesday, in the meantime, additionally eliminates NuScale’s VOYGR PWR, the one SMR thus far licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Fee (NRC). Whereas NuScale had urged it was uniquely ready to deploy 77-MW VOYGR crops within the UK by its world improvement companion ENTRA1 Vitality, the corporate will seemingly refocus its operations on different worldwide markets, together with an ongoing mission with RoPower in Romania on the Doicesti web site. Throughout an earnings name in August 2024, NuScale CEO John Hopkins mentioned the corporate is pursuing alternatives in energy-intensive industries corresponding to information facilities and synthetic intelligence infrastructure alongside industrial decarbonization efforts.
UK SMR Competitors: Who Stays?
Westinghouse Electrical’s AP300. As POWER final yr reported, Westinghouse’s choice is for its AP300, a “downsized” model of the corporate’s flagship AP1000 Era III+ PWR expertise, which it unveiled in Might 2023. Westinghouse has mentioned it’s focusing on design certification for the AP300 SMR by 2027 and could possibly be prepared for building to start by 2030.
The corporate, in the meantime, introduced on Aug. 23 that it obtained formal approval from the UK Division of Vitality Safety and Web Zero (DESNZ) to enter the primary stage of the two-step Generic Design Evaluation (GDA) for the AP300. The GDA is non-mandatory course of that permits the Workplace of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to start assessing the protection, safety, safeguards, and environmental facets of recent reactor designs earlier than site-specific proposals are introduced ahead.
The corporate additionally has a possible buyer. Group Nuclear Energy (CNP), a UK-based impartial SMR improvement firm, in February 2024 introduced it might spearhead a mission to construct 4 AP300s in North Teeside, Northeast England, anticipating business operation by the early 2030s.
With confirmed applied sciences and regulator familiarity, the AP300 can get to market shortly, economically, and with certainty,” mentioned Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and CEO, on Wednesday. “We sit up for working with GBN by the ultimate evaluate and choice course of.”
Rolls-Royce SMR’s 470-MWe PWR. Rolls-Royce SMR has mentioned its choice is for its “home-grown” 470-MWe PWR design, which incorporates a “factory-built” plant.
Rolls Royce SMR, in July 2024, cleared the ONR’s second stage of the GDA (marking the primary time for the reason that modernized GDA course of was launched of the ONR’s issuance of Step 2 GDA statements). The corporate has now progressed to Step 3, which permits the regulator to evaluate in additional element the proof that helps claims made about Step 2 submissions and finally achieves a “full” GDA.
In a press release on Thursday, Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR CEO, underscored that Rolls-Royce SMR “is the UK’s solely SMR firm and is already 18 months forward of opponents within the regulatory approvals course of. Right now’s information that we are going to progress to formal negotiation with GBN will assist us to take care of this essential first-mover benefit.”
Rolls-Royce SMR can be making substantial progress in deploying a fleet. “Rolls-Royce SMR has been chosen by the Czech Republic to deploy their fleet of SMRs and is within the closing two in Sweden’s SMR choice course of. Success within the UK will additional strengthen our place because the main SMR firm and make sure the UK is ready to capitalize on this transformational alternative for the home provide chain,” Cholerton mentioned.
GDA: A Non-Obligatory However Vital Regulatory Course ofThe GDA is a non-mandatory regulatory course of overseen by the UK Workplace for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and Atmosphere Company (EA) to make sure that new nuclear energy crops constructed within the nation “meet excessive requirements of security, safety, environmental safety and waste administration.” The joint course of is separate from site-specific licensing, which the ONR grants as a authorized doc for all the lifecycle of a nuclear energy facility, and environmental permits from the EA (or Pure Sources Wales). A 3-step technology-neutral evaluation launched in 2007, the GDA serves as a primary step to scale back mission danger, offering confidence {that a} proposed design might be constructed, operated, and decommissioned within the UK beneath present requirements. A “full” GDA, comprising all three steps, usually takes about 4 years. Step 1 is considered the “mission initiation stage” of the design evaluation course of. It includes discussions to make sure a full understanding of the necessities and processes that will likely be utilized, readiness of the requesting get together to start Step 2, and a evaluate of the get together’s safety and High quality Assurance (QA) preparations. Step 2 is the primary substantive technical evaluation step. It focuses on a elementary evaluation of the environmental safety, security, safety, and safeguards facets of the design. “This could determine if there any main points that means a reactor wouldn’t meet regulatory expectations in its present design,” ONR explains. Distributors can select to cease the GDA after two steps, which includes about two years. Step 3, which spans one other two years, includes a extra detailed evaluation of submissions, nevertheless it might pave the way in which to a design acceptance affirmation (DAC) or Assertion of Design Acceptability (SoDA) from ONR and the environmental regulators. A DAC or SoDA “will solely be issued on the finish of Step 3 of the GDA if the design meets the excessive security, safety, safeguards, environmental safety, and waste administration requirements anticipated by our regulatory frameworks,” says ONR. Basically, if a company units out to construct and function a reactor within the UK that has not been topic to a three-step GDA, it might want to hold out a detailed design evaluation by ONR’s statutory regulatory processes, established by the nuclear web site license earlier than permission could possibly be granted to start out nuclear safety-related building. The GDA shouldn’t be a “substitute for the nuclear web site licensing course of, however it’ll make a major contribution to ONR’s evaluation of the longer term site-specific security case,” ONR notes. “It’s as much as traders, builders, and distributors—whether or not they be personal or authorities—to resolve whether or not the shorter two-step GDA provides them sufficient confidence to proceed with procuring a web site, organising a licensee group, and begin to place contracts for parts and building actions.” Up to now, UK regulators have accomplished GDAs for 4 designs. All opinions have taken as much as 5 years or extra. EDF’s UK EPR, whose GDA evaluate spanned 2007 to 2012, is now beneath building at Hinkley Level C and is proposed for Sizewell C (a mission the UK will bolster with a 50% possession stake). A evaluate of Westinghouse’s AP1000 occurred between 2007 and 2017, whereas a evaluate of GEH’s ABWR spanned 2013 to 2017. The latest evaluate of Chinese language agency CGN’s UK HPR1000 took 5 years, from 2017 to 2022, culminating within the issuance of a DAC and a SoDa. |
GEH’s BWRX-300 BWR. GEH’s choice is for its BWRX-300, a 300-MWe boiling water reactor (BWR). The BWRX-300, GEH’s flagship SMR, is the tenth evolution of GE’s boiling water reactor (BWR) design. The design relies on the Gen III+ 1,520-MW ESBWR, which the NRC licensed in 2014.
ONR in January 2024 kicked off a two-step GDA for the reactor design. Earlier this yr, GEH additionally gained the UK’s second grant choice (of £33.6 million) beneath the UK Future Nuclear Enabling Fund (FNEF), a program aimed toward boosting nuclear expertise maturation because the nation races to probably triple its nuclear capability to as much as 24 GW by 2050.
GEH is already fielding a number of tasks or prospects around the globe for its reactor design. Ontario Energy Era (OPG) in December 2021 chosen the BWRX-300 for its first SMR deployment on the Darlington Nuclear Facility in Ontario. “Early web site preparation work has been accomplished, with building anticipated to start out in 2025 and business operation to begin by the top of 2029. A complete of 4 300 MW items are deliberate for the Darlington web site,” the corporate famous on Thursday.
“We have now huge ambitions for deploying our SMR expertise within the UK, so we’re proud to advance to the following stage of GBN’s competitors,” mentioned Andy Champ, GEH UK Nation chief. “With web site works already underway in Canada for our first BWRX-300—essentially the most superior SMR mission within the G7—we’re in a robust place to steer SMR deployment within the UK by leveraging our experience in different markets.”
On July 7, 2023, the Ontario authorities introduced it might work with OPG to begin planning and licensing for 3 extra SMRs for a complete of 4 SMRs on the Darlington new nuclear web site. OPG is notably partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Polish agency Synthos Inexperienced Vitality (SGE) to form a regular design for the BWRX-300.
TVA is in the meantime exploring a BWRX-300 deployment on the Clinch River web site in Tennessee. Below the New Nuclear Program, TVA is at present making ready an NRC building allow utility that would goal deployment within the 2030s, although its closing approval will likely be topic to the required environmental evaluate and the board’s approval. SGE and companions, in the meantime, wish to construct a fleet of 79 BWRX-300 SMRs by 2038.
Saskatchewan provincial utility SaskPower intends to make a choice to construct a possible BWRX-300 mission in 2029. Fermi Energia has thus far already chosen BWRX-300 for deployment in Estonia, and agreements are in place within the Czech Republic and Sweden to help BWRX-300 deployment. GEH additionally says “energetic discussions” are going down within the Center East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
Holtec’s SMR-300 PWR. Holtec Britain, a subsidiary of American agency Holtec Worldwide, submitted its SMR-160, nevertheless it has since launched a bigger 300-MW PWR design, the SMR-300. The principal strengths of the design are “its inherent security, strong safety, easy and dependable operation, versatile utility, fast constructibility, and aggressive economics,” Holtec notes.
On Aug. 1, Holtec Britain accomplished Step 1 of the GDA for its SMR-300 design—noting the approval was obtained in a “mere 10 months.” ONR notes the GDA is being carried out on a twin-unit design, comprising two SMR-300 reactors. “Innovation comes from the intensive use of passive security programs and a single steam generator per reactor,” it says.
Supported by a £60 million funding, together with £30 million from the UK authorities’s FNEF, the Holtec Britain group has moved to triple in dimension and relocate its UK headquarters to Bristol. Backed by its U.S. dad or mum firm and key companions Hyundai Engineering and Development and Mitsubishi Electrical, Holtec plans to ascertain a heavy manufacturing plant within the UK to construct SMR-300 parts.
Holtec, notably, is spearheading an effort to revive the 800-MW Palisades Nuclear Energy Plant in Michigan. In December 2023, it kicked off a program to construct its first two SMR-300 reactor items on the plant. It plans to file a Development Allow Software (CPA) for the 2 Holtec items in 2026, shortly after the prevailing Palisades plant returns to service (by the top of 2025). Holtec’s goal commissioning date for the primary SMR-300 plant is mid-2030, although that’s topic to the NRC’s regulatory opinions and oversight.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
