Small Modular Reactors

Jay Maisler, CHP Manager of Projects, ENERCON

John Hawkinson Senior Engineer, ENERCON

Small Modular Reactor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Small modular reactors (SMRs) are part of a new generation of nuclear power plant designs being developed in several countries. The objective of these SMRs is to provide a flexible, cost-effective energy alternative. Small reactors are defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as those with an electricity output of less than 300 MWe, although general opinion is that anything with an output of less than 500 MWe counts as a small reactor.

Modular reactors are manufactured at a plant and brought to the site fully constructed. They allow for less on-site construction, increased containment efficiency, and heightened nuclear materials security.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor retrieved: 3-30-2015

Small Reactors in Remote Locations

http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contentHandler.cfm?id=2177 retrieved 3-31-2015

http://www.independent.co.uk/migration_catalog/article5275707.ece/alternates/w620/Front.jpeg retrieved 3-31-2015

A 1.75 MWe + 3 MBTU/hr reactor in Antarctica (PM3A) and a 10 MWt reactor (S2W) on the USS Nautilus (world’s first nuclear sub)

US Army Nuclear Power Program

• SM-1 Reactor, Ft. Belvoir, MD: First power reactor connected to the grid (2 MWe SM-1 reactor, April 1957

• PM-2A , Camp Century, Greenland (Operation Iceworm) First portable reactor, 2 MWe + 10 MBTU/hr steam heat, Feb 1961

• PM-3A, McMurdo, Antarctica, 1.75 MWe + 3 MBTU/hr steam heat, Mar 1962 (reactor was actually owned by the US Navy)

• MH-1A, USS Sturgis, Panama Canal Zone. 10 MWe. First power reactor on a barge used to regularly power a shore installation, 1968-1975.

• SL-1, 300 kWe Idaho Reactor Testing Station, ID. Power excursion and explosion, 3 fatalities on Jan 3, 1961

• Army Nuclear Power Program trained over 1,000 operators from 1958-1977.

http://atomicinsights.com/army-nuclear-power-plants/ retrieved 3-31-2015 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Nuclear_Power_Program#List_of_ANPP_plants retrieved 3-31-2015

US Navy Nuclear Power Program

• US Navy begins R&D in 1946 (ADM Rickover) • First nuclear submarine (Nautilus), 1954 • First nuclear aircraft carrier (Enterprise), 1961 • First exclusive-use commercial, US nuclear power reactor (Shippingport,

PA), 1957. (Reactor was excess from an unbuilt nuclear aircraft carrier). 236 MWt, 60 MWe. Would be classified as an SMR today.

• Current force of US Navy nuclear-powered vessels: – 71 nuclear submarines – 10 nuclear aircraft carriers

• > 40,000 operators trained from early 1950s through mid-1990s. • > 50 years of operation and 151 million miles safely “steaming” without a

nuclear accident

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shippingport_Atomic_Power_Station retrieved 3-31-2015 http://nnsa.energy.gov/sites/default/files/nnsa/04-14-inlinefiles/2014-04-09%202013_ Naval_Nuclear_Propulsion_Program.pdf retrieved 3-31-2015

US Research and Test Reactors

Power ranges from 100 milli-Watt to 20 mega-watt (thermal) U of Florida Training Reactor (UFTR) is a 100 kW Argonaut (water cooled)

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/research-reactors-bg.html retrieved 3-31-2015

Operating US Nuclear Power Plants

http://www.world-nuclear.org/uploadedImages/org/info/Country_Profiles/ Countries_T-Z/us_nuclear_map.jpg retrieved 3-30-2015

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/decom-image8.jpg,, retrieved 3-30-2015

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/new-licensing-files/new-plants.jpg retrieved 3-30-2015

US NRC SMR Pre-Application Candidates

Design Application Type Applicant NuScale Design Certification NuScale Power, LLC

B&W mPower™ Design Certification Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) mPower, Inc.

Holtec SMR-160 Design Certification SMR LLC, a Holtec International Company

Westinghouse SMR Design Certification Westinghouse Electric Company

Clinch River Site Roane County, Tennessee

Early Site Permit Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/advanced.html retrieved 3-30-2015

NuScale • Thermal capacity – 160 MWt • Electrical capacity – > 50 MWe (gross) • Capacity factor – >95 percent • Dimensions – 76' x 15' cylindrical

containment vessel module containing reactor and steam generator

• Weight – ~ 700 tons as shipped from fabrication shop

• Transportation – Barge, truck or train • Cost – Numerous advantages due to

simplicity, off-the-shelf standard items, modular design, shorter construction times, <$5,000/KW

• Fuel – Standard LWR fuel in 17 x 17 configuration, each assembly 2 meters (~ 6 ft) in length; 24-month refueling cycle with fuel enriched less than 4.95 percent

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/advanced/nuscale.html retrieved 3-30-2015 http://www.nuscalepower.com/overviewofnuscalestechnology.aspx retrieved 3-30-2015

B&W mPower

• Thermal capacity – 530 MWt • Electrical capacity –155 MWe (air cooled

condenser), 180 MWe (water cooled condenser) MWe (gross)

• Capacity factor –95 percent • Dimensions – 83' x 13' • Weight – ~ 628 tons (w/o fuel), 716 tons at

power • Transportation – Rail-shippable nuclear

steam supply system (NSSS) • Cost – Short construction schedule (3 years),

Less than $5000/kW* for 360 MWe greenfield plant

• Fuel –17 x 17 fuel pin array, 95 inches active length, 69 bundles, 4+ year refueling cycle with fuel enriched less than 5 percent

*CY 2012 estimate

http://www.generationmpower.com/technology/deployment.asp retrieved 3-30-2015 http://www.babcock.com/library/Documents/SP201-100.pdf retrieved 3-30-2015

Holtec SMR-160

• Thermal capacity – 525 MWt • Electrical capacity 160 MWe (gross) • Capacity factor – >98 percent • Dimensions – Reactor pressure vessel is 49

ft. high and 9 ft. diameter • Cost – 3 year construction time, ~$5,000/KW • Fuel –37 full fuel assemblies and 8 partial, 17

x 17 standard PWR fuel dimensions, 4-year refueling cycle with fuel enriched less than 5 percent

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/advanced/holtec.html retrieved 3-30-2015 http://www.smrllc.com/safety.html retrieved 3-30-2015 http://www.uxc.com/smr/uxc_SMRDetail.aspx?key=SMR-160%20%28HI-SMUR%29 retrieved 3-31-2015

Westinghouse SMR

• Thermal capacity – 800 MWt • Electrical capacity – > 225 MWe (gross) • Capacity factor – >95 percent • Dimensions – 90' x 32' cylindrical reactor

pressure vessel • Weight – modular weight based on crane

capacity lifting limits • Transportation – Barge, truck or train • Cost – Numerous advantages due to modular

design and manufacturing, 18-24 month construction times, $ / kWh equivalent to GW-sized nuclear plants.

• Fuel – Standard LWR fuel in 17 x 17 configuration, 24-month refueling cycle with fuel enriched less than 5 percent

http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/New-Plants/Small-Modular-Reactor retrieved 3-31-2015

SMR Design Features

• SMR designs can function without operator intervention during normal, accident, and post-accident conditions (for a minimum of 72 hours). – Passive safety features place fewer requirements on the operating

staff for emergency response. – Abnormal and emergency operating procedures reflect minimized

required immediate response actions. – Required actions focus on monitoring conditions, utilizing a smaller

operations staff. – Remote monitoring capabilities (inherent in digital control systems)

reduce, and possibly eliminate, reporting responsibilities of the operations staff.

SMR Design Features

• The physical layout and reduced size of an SMR plant also contribute to making management of an emergency simpler. – Smaller physical footprint of the plant, including Exclusion Area

Boundaries that are smaller than those of large light water reactors. – Limited radiological response needed during normal or accident

conditions.

SMR Design Features

• The time interval of greatest activity for the licensed reactor operators is the period immediately after an accident/transient or other plant event. – Licensed operators must establish that the plant is performing within

its specified safety limits and is achieving a known safe state in accordance with the plant abnormal and emergency operating procedures.

– Emergency procedures identify the actions that need to be taken in a given plant condition.

SMR Design Features

• For events where there is no security threat, the security staff can also provide predefined administrative, communications, and planning help such as making initial notification of government agencies, calling up the duty roster, or calling for fire and medical support.

US EIA Electricity History to 2014 and Projections to 2040

http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/early_elecgen.cfm retrieved 3-30-2015

Why SMRs? • Diversity of fuel supply (natural gas is cheap, but for how long?) • Low/No carbon source of steady (base-load) electric power • Very resistant to weather-related fuel supply disruptions (e.g., “polar

vortex” freezing of coal piles and gas pipelines, slowed oil deliveries) • Relatively low power densities and ‘passive safety’ features drives the

probability of accidental releases even lower than current reactor designs • First of a kind (FOAK) cost will be high, but mass production should drive

Nth of a kind costs down, as they do for standardized ships and airplanes. • A number of SMR designs aggregate power by assembling numerous (2-

12) small modules at one site. Allows a “pay as you go” strategy for growing a power plant over time, rather than the “all or nothing” up-front cost burden faced by today’s utilities.

• Small, long-life core designs for power and heat (“nuclear batteries”) opens new opportunities for siting SMRs at remote locations