GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300 SMR Moved Ahead by UK Nuclear Regulators
Key Highlights
- - The BWRX-300 has completed key design assessment steps in the UK, marking a significant regulatory milestone.
- - Construction is underway at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site, with four units planned for deployment.
- - The reactor design offers up to 300 MW of power with a 60-year lifespan, emphasizing safety and cost-efficiency.
Of the many nuclear small modular reactor designs yet to be physically constructed in the western world, the BWRX-300 developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) may be a step closer to reality.
GVH’s BWRX-300 SMR has completed a successful second phase in the general design assessment process (GDA) in the United Kingdom. Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) has coinvested in the GDA for the BWRX-300 as part of the UK government’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund project to benefit from regulatory lessons learned.
“Today we have taken another step towards supporting Britain with much needed affordable, clean and reliable energy,” Rafał Kasprow, CEO of OSGE, said in a statement. “By completing GDA Step 2, the BWRX-300 continues to prove it is the world’s most deployment-ready SMR.”
Meanwhile, construction of the facility for the BWRX-300 is under progress at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Darlington site near Toronto, a total of four units are planned for the site. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted and is reviewing Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) application to construct the BWRX-300 in the U.S. at the utility’s Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
No SMRs have been built nor commissioned by the U.S. or western hemisphere nations, although many supporters indicate that once operational, they can contribute baseload, carbon-free electricity to meet rising demand from data centers, AI factories and industrial automation. The next-gen reactors promise smaller footprints, passive safety features and reportedly less expense compared to conventional reactor projects such as the nearly $35 billion Vogtle 3 and 4 expansion completed in Georgia.
The BWRX-300 could be generating power in Ontario by the end of 2030, according to the company. The boiling water reactor design is expected to provide up to 300 MW of net generation per unit with an expected lifespan of 60 years.
In the U.K., the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) utilize the GDA process to ensure that new reactor designs meet the highest standards for safety, security and environmental protection. The ONR and EA statements indicate that their Step 2 assessment has not identified any fundamental safety, security safeguard or environmental protection shortfalls with the design of the BWRX-300.
“Completing Step 2 of the GDA is a significant regulatory milestone,” said Andy Champ, GVH UK Country Leader. “This is the fastest that any technology provider has completed steps 1 and 2, truly demonstrating the value of our progress in construction in Canada and is another sign that the BWRX-300 continues to advance globally.”
In the U.S., meanwhile, the Trump Administration is trying to fast-track SMR development and has chosen a group of project developers to expedite testing of advanced reactor designs and even reach criticality with a pilot project by July 4, 2026. This movement is an attempt to create a quicker pathway than the NRC’s historically deliberate approach taking multiple years to approve.
Other relatively startup firms working on SMR and/or advanced reactor designs include TerraPower, NuScale Power, X-energy, Oklo, Rolls-Royce SMR, Kairos Power, NANO Nuclear, Aalo Atomics and Natura Resources. X-energy and industrial customer partner Dow are seeking NRC approval for SMRs to power the latter’s chemical complex on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Russia and China reportedly have developed and commissioned early-stage SMRs.
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
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Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.