Component standardization, simplicity, and automation in NuScale Power’s IPWR design should reduce operational staff count to around 0.7 staff per MW, Ross Snuggerud, NuScale’s Senior Operations Engineer, told Nuclear Energy Insider. NuScale is now over a year into the design certification application (DCA) license approval process for its IPWR small modular reactor (SMR) design. NuScale plans to deliver its first 600 MW to Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) by around 2026 and could see the first power module built by 2020.
Nuclear Energy Insider 2nd May 2018 read more »
High temperatures and operational flexibility could position small modular reactors (SMRs) at the heart of the growing hydrogen market, experts told Nuclear Energy Insider. As SMR developers bring a wide range of reactor technologies closer to market, many developers see industrial applications such as hydrogen production as a key growth opportunity. Steam methane reforming is currently the dominant method to produce hydrogen. Natural gas is submitted to thermal processes, typically in large plants built onto existing natural gas infrastructure. In the U.S., where shale production has driven down gas prices, 95% of hydrogen is produced by steam methane reforming. However, steam methane reforming produces CO2 and High Temperature Steam Electrolysis (HTSE) is seen as a viable low carbon alternative towards the decarbonization of the network.
Nuclear Energy Insider 2nd May 2018 read more »
