NuScale Power Competing for Next Round of U.S. Department of Energy Small Modular Reactor Funding Opportunity

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Continuing one of the most highly anticipated technology competitions in the nuclear power industry, NuScale Power, LLC, announced today it is eager to compete for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) which was announced yesterday. The FOA outlines a plan to provide investments to private industry to support the design, licensing and manufacturing of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

“This FOA emphasizes the importance of an SMR technology’s ability to withstand severe natural phenomena, such as a Fukushima-type event. Our plant is designed to safely shut down and self-cool indefinitely in such an event, without AC or DC power or additional water requirements.”

NuScale has developed an innovative technology for building safer, smaller, scalable nuclear power plants. Using proven light water reactor technology, the NuScale Power Module is cooled by natural circulation, entirely self-contained and installed underwater and underground to maximize safety.

“Our design offers the DOE a plant with innovative new safety features and true scalability from 45MW to 540MW — making it adaptable to fit multiple potential applications,” said John Hopkins, NuScale’s chairman and CEO. “This FOA emphasizes the importance of an SMR technology’s ability to withstand severe natural phenomena, such as a Fukushima-type event. Our plant is designed to safely shut down and self-cool indefinitely in such an event, without AC or DC power or additional water requirements.”

The NuScale design was initially developed in 2000 under a DOE-funded research program and demonstrated in a one-third scale electrically heated test facility in Corvallis, OR, starting in 2003.

“Our design has been validated through an extensive testing program for more than a decade,” added Hopkins.

NuScale was the first US-based SMR vendor to begin discussions with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has been engaged in pre-application efforts since 2008.

NuScale Power has the backing and technical assistance of Fluor Corporation, a multi-billion-dollar global engineering firm with more than 60 years in the nuclear new-build market. Fluor has designed, built or provided construction support for 20 nuclear units in the U.S., and provides a full range of procurement and other services to nuclear plant operators worldwide.

About NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale Power, LLC, is developing an inherently safe, modular, scalable commercial nuclear power technology. NuScale’s design offers the benefits of carbon-free nuclear power but takes away the issues presented by the cost of installing large capacity. A nuclear power plant using NuScale’s technology is comprised of individual nuclear power modules; each produces 45 megawatts of electricity with its own combined containment vessel and reactor system, and its own designated turbine-generator set. A power plant can include as many as 12 NuScale integral PWR modules to produce as much as 540 megawatts. NuScale power plants are scalable — additional modules are added as customer demand for electricity increases. These multi-module plants are highly reliable — one unit can be taken out of service for refueling or maintenance, or a new unit added, without affecting the operation of the others. For more information visit: www.nuscalepower.com.