NuScale successfully demonstrates approach that allows its SMR to be safe without need for electrical power

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has concluded that application of NuScale Power’s novel safety design approach eliminates the need for class 1E power for its small modular reactor (SMR). Class 1E is the regulatory standard set for the design of safety-related nuclear power plant electrical systems. In its newly released Safety Evaluation Report, the NRC approves NuScale Power’s “Safety Classification of Passive Nuclear Power Plant Electrical Systems” Licensing Topical Report, where the company established the bases of how a design can be safe without reliance on any safety-related electrical power. Currently, all nuclear plants in the U.S. are required to have class 1E power supplies to ensure safety. The NRC has limited its approval to only NuScale Power’s design. NRC’s conclusion is a key step in the review process of NuScale’s Power Module Design Certification Application (DCA).

“We appreciate the NRC staff’s focused and thorough analysis of the safety and reliability our SMR design offers and for issuing their findings so early in our DCA review,” says NuScale Power Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nuclear Officer Dale Atkinson. “Our approach to safety is a first in the nuclear industry and exemplifies the inherent safety of NuScale’s SMR. This validation brings us another step closer to achieving our mission of delivering scalable advanced nuclear technology to produce the electricity, process heat, and clean water needed to improve the quality of life for people around the world”.

The NRC’s review of NuScale’s DCA began March 2017 and the NRC’s final report approving the design is expected to be complete by September 2020. Once approved, certified NuScale SMRs will be available to domestic customers to be licensed for construction and operation. NuScale Power is the only company to have submitted an SMR DCA. Regulatory approval will support its first U.S. deployment by the mid 2020’s, further establishing NuScale as the leader in SMR technology.

About NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale Power, LLC is developing a new kind of nuclear plant; a safer, smaller, scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology – a technology initially developed and tested at Oregon State University. Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR), a global engineering, procurement, and construction company with a 60-year history in commercial nuclear power, is the majority investor in NuScale. NuScale’s design offers the benefits of carbon-free nuclear power and reduces the financial commitments associated with giga-watt size nuclear facilities. NuScale’s technology is also ideally suited to supply energy for district heating, desalination, and process heat applications.

At the heart of our technology is the fully factory fabricated NuScale Power Module™, an integral reactor vessel surrounded by a high pressure steel containment, which when coupled to its factory fabricated power generation equipment can produce 50 megawatts of electricity. A NuScale power plant can house up to 12 of these modules for a total facility output of 600 megawatts (gross). The scalability afforded by the modular design allows customers to incrementally increase facility output to match demand. The NuScale Power Module™ is premised on well-established nuclear technology principles with a focus on integration of components, simplification or elimination of systems, and use of passive safety features resulting in highly reliable operation underpinned by an extremely strong safety case and unparalleled asset protection, making it suitable to be sited at locations closer to where electricity or process heat are needed.

NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and has offices in Corvallis, OR; Rockville, MD; Charlotte, NC; Richland, WA; Arlington, VA; and London, UK. For more information visit: www.nuscalepower.com or follow us on Twitter: @NuScale_Power.