GEH submitted a generic design assessment entry application to British regulators for its BWRX-300 SMR nuclear reactor. Small nuclear reactors, while none are currently in commercial operation, are seen as a future option to provide the carbon-free, high-capacity power of nuclear energy without the exorbitant costs and large construction footprints of conventional projects such as Georgia Power’s Vogtle 3 and 4 expansion and EDF’s Sizewell C in the UK.
The BWRX-300 design is a planned 300-MW water-cooled SMR which the company has been honing for three decades. Considered the 10th evolution of the GE boiling water reactor, it offers a theoretically less expensive option for developers who might want to build nuclear projects on smaller footprints in helping the energy sector reach Net Zero emissions goals.
“We believe the BWRX-300 is the ideal technology to help the UK meet its decarbonization and energy security goals," Sean Sexstone, executive vice president of advanced nuclear for GEH. “Regulatory agencies in Canada and the U.S. are collaborating on their licensing review of the BWRX-300. . . We look forward to engaging UK regulators and enabling collaboration with their global counterparts.”
GEH has agreements with Canadian utilities Ontario Power Generation and Sask Power on SMR nuclear deployments in that nation.
SMR nuclear is inching closer to reality in the U.S. and Canada and elsewhere. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the design of NuScale Power’s SMR concept, and the Idaho National Laboratory will be the site of NuScale’s demonstration plant later this decade, if completed by then.
Engineering firm Jacobs is assisting GEH in its British application process on the BWRX-300. The company has worked on licensing plans for new nuclear power plant projects in the UK since 2007.
“Our work with GEH on this application will progress our joint aim of ensuring the UK’s energy security and building a more connected and sustainable world,” Dawn Jones, vice president of nuclear power with Jacobs, said in a statement.
Many climate and energy experts in the U.S., UK and beyond argue that Net Zero carbon reduction goals cannot be met in the power generation sector without new nuclear energy projects. Solar and wind power capacity is expected to continue its accelerated growth pace, but neither offers the consistent, baseload and high-capacity factor energy potential of nuclear power, some energy experts say.
The United Kingdom has announced a goal of 24 GW of nuclear generation capacity added by 2050 to help address issues of energy security and climate change.
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Nuclear power is relatively cheap to run once the plants are built, based on fuel costs per kWh. Construction expenses, however, are tremendously high and timelines to completion are long.
Georgia Power and its partners may yet spend more than $30 billion to make the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 operational by 2024. The project has survived numerous cost overruns, the bankruptcy of initial contractor Westinghouse and complaints from both environmentalists and ratepayers.
SMR nuclear projects could provide an option in construction costs of as low as $3,000 per kW. Thus, a 300-MW project might cost $900 million, as opposed to conventional, massive new nuclear projects, such as Vogtle or Sizewell C in the UK, costing $30 billion or a ballpark estimate of $9,000 per kW.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
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