01/27/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/27/2023 12:11
Wilmington, N.C.-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Canadian firms Ontario Power Generation, SNC-Lavalin, and Aecon announced this morning the signing of a contract for the deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor at OPG's Darlington nuclear site in Canada. According to the announcement, it is the first commercial contract for a grid-scale SMR in North America.
The six-year, multi-party agreement covers a range of project activities:
With site preparation and related work currently underway, SMR construction is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2028.
The tech: An evolution of GEH's 1,520-MWe Generation III+ ESBWR design (approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2014), the BWRX-300 is a 300-MWe water-cooled, natural-circulation SMR with passive safety systems. According to GEH, because of design simplification, the BWRX-300 should require significantly lower capital costs per MW than other water-cooled SMR designs or existing large nuclear reactor designs. It is currently undergoing a pre-licensing vendor design review by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
Background: Darlington, home to four 878-MWe CANDU pressurized water reactors, is the only site in Canada currently licensed for a new nuclear. OPG was granted a license by the CNSC in 2012 to allow site preparation activities for a nuclear new-build project. The license was renewed in October 2021, and is now valid until October 11, 2031
In October 2020, OPG announced that it was working with three grid-scale SMR technology developers-GEH, Terrestrial Energy, and X-energy-to advance engineering and design work with the goal of identifying options for future deployment. The following month, the utility announced the resumption of planning activities for future nuclear power generation at Darlington, with the goal of hosting a grid-size SMR as soon as 2028. (An earlier project plan had focused on the construction of traditional large reactors.) OPG selected GEH in December 2021 as its technology partner for the SMR project.
Official words:
In case you missed it: Late last June, following an assessment of several SMR technologies, SaskPower selected the BWRX-300 for potential deployment in Saskatchewan in the mid-2030s. Just days later, Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced during a third-quarter investor call that TVA and GEH had signed an agreement to support planning and preliminary licensing for the potential deployment of a BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tenn.