- Kairos Power Wins DOE $303M Award for Hermes Reactor
- AtkinsRéalis and AECL Plan 1,000 MWe CANDU Reactor
- India Seeks $26 Billion in Domestic Private Investment in Nuclear Energy
- South Korea to Invest in SMR Manufacturing Center
- Rolls-Royce Looks to Europe for First SMR Customers
- Westinghouse to Evaluate AP1000s in Netherlands
- China / Construction Of Two Hualong One Nuclear Plants Begins At Jinqimen
Kairos Power Wins DOE $303M Award for Hermes Reactor
- U.S. Department Of Energy And Kairos Power Execute Novel Performance-Based, Fixed-Price Milestone Contract To Enable Investment in Advanced Reactor Demonstration Project
Under the agreement, DOE will provide up to $303 million to Kairos Power using a performance-based, fixed-price milestone approach. The the company will receive fixed payments upon demonstrating it has achieved significant project milestones.
The contracting method has been used by the Department of Defense and follows the significant precedent in NASA’s successful Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. It has proven to be a flexible and effective model to support the development and demonstration of complex technologies through federal partnerships with commercial companies.
Mike Laufer, Kairos Power co-founder and CEO said in a press statement, “With the use of fixed-price milestone payments, this innovative contract provides real benefits to both Kairos Power and DOE to ensure the successful completion of the Hermes reactor. It allows us to remain focused on achieving the most important goals of the project while retaining agility and flexibility to move quickly as we learn key lessons through our iterative development approach.”
Emphasizing the importance of the contract award, Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, said in a press statement, “The Hermes reactor is an important step toward realizing advanced nuclear energy’s role in ushering forward the nation’s clean energy transition,” said “Partnerships like this one play a significant role in making advanced nuclear technology commercially competitive.”
On its website the firm said it has since being selected for the ARDP award, “Kairos Power has made steady progress on its pathway to demonstration, standing up extensive testing and manufacturing infrastructure to deliver the Engineering Test Unit series and advancing its fuel and molten salt coolant workstreams.”
In December 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit to Kairos Power for the Hermes demonstration reactor. Hermes will demonstrate the company’s ability to deliver clean, safe, and affordable nuclear heat and represents a critical step on Kairos Power’s iterative pathway to commercializing its advanced reactor technology.
About Kairos Power
Kairos Power is a nuclear technology, engineering, and manufacturing company singularly focused on commercializing the fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR).
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AtkinsRéalis and AECL Plan 1,000 MWe CANDU Reactor
- First nuclear plant of new CANDU design could be online by mid-2030s
(NucNet) AtkinsRéalis and state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on deploying Candu nuclear power reactors around the world. The MOU will be followed by collaboration and licensing agreements that will accelerate the development of Candu reactor technology, including the large-scale 1,000 MW Monark design that was unveiled in November 2023.
AtkinsRéalis, a Montreal-based nuclear technology and engineering company that is part of Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group, told NucNet it is aiming to deploy its first Monark nuclear plant in Canada by about 2034-2035 and is targeting markets as far afield as South America, Asia and Australia.
CANDU reactor technology was developed in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s by a partnership that included AECL. According to the Canadian Nuclear Association’s website, there are 34 Candu plants globally, 30 of which are operable. Nineteen of those plants are in Canada with the rest in Argentina, China, India, Pakistan, Romania and South Korea.
AtkinsRéalis said as the original equipment manufacturer and steward of CANDU technology, it partners with a nationwide nuclear supply chain of more than 250 companies that employ 76,000 people and provides fuel, components, services and tooling.
The Monark, at 1,000 MW, is the most advanced reactor design with the highest output of any CANDU technology. AtkinsRéalis said large-scale nuclear reactors are increasingly sought-after by utilities and governments as they look to decarbonize power grids, produce stable baseload power that is not weather-dependent and increase energy security.
In September, the Canadian government agreed to provide export financing to support complet4ion of two CANDU reactors in Romania. These additional plants at the Cernavoda site would take nuclear power’s share of Romania’s electricity production to 36%.
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India Seeks $26 Billion in Domestic Private Investment in Nuclear Energy
The Indian government is in talks with Reliance Industries, Tata Power, Adani Power, and Vedanta Ltd to invest nearly $5.30 billion each from them. The report, quoting two sources, mentioned the Department of Atomic Energy and the state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India (NPCIL) have held multiple rounds of discussions with private companies in the past year on the investment plan. The government hopes to build 11,000 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear power generation capacity by 2040.
This is the first time India is pursuing private investment in nuclear power. The funding would help India achieve its target of having 50% of its installed electric generation capacity use non-fossil fuels by 2030, up from 42% now.
NPCIL owns and operates India’s current fleet of nuclear power plants, with a capacity of 7,500 MW, and has committed investments for another 1,300 MW.
The government is asking the private companies will make investments in the nuclear plants, acquire land and water, and undertake construction in areas outside the reactor complex of the plants. However, the responsibility and rights to build and run the power stations and their fuel management will rest with NPCIL. However, the private companies are expected to earn revenue from the power plant’s electricity sales, and NPCIL would operate the projects for a fee.
According to a Reuters wire service report, in August 2023, Minister of State Jitendra Singh also told the country’s parliament that the government was considering options for small modular reactors, and looking at ways to allow the participation of the private sector and start-ups in such projects.
India is currently building a fleet of 10 700 MW PHWR nuclear power plants using a 100% India supply chain for the domestic designed CANDU type reactor. Anther seven units are planned once the first ten are complete. India has blocked foreign direct investment in its nuclear sector by passing a “supplier liability law” that blocks all but state owned enterprises that self-insure. Westinghouse and GE Hitachi exited the market as a result
Russia has built and commissioned two 1000 MW VVER reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, is building two more, and has recently completed discussions with NPCIL for a third pair at the same site. Efforts by France’s EDF to build six 1650 MW EPRs at Jaitapur on India’s west coast have been stalled for more than a decade over objections by NPCIL about costs.
At $6,000/Mw the two EPR reactors would cost almost $20 billion. By comparison, India claims to be building its 700 MW PHWRs for about half that amount or about $2 billion each. Roughly speaking, India could build its entire fleet of 10 PHWRs for the cost of the twin EPRs not counting cost and schedule delays for the EPRs which have a poor track record in terms of project controls.
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South Korea to Invest in SMR Manufacturing Center
South Korea will invest in developing its the small modular reactor (SMR) foundry business. President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a town hall meeting in Changwon that the government will develop the southeastern city of Changwon and its surrounding area South Gyeongsang Province into an SMR manufacturing hub.
“Changwon will see the country’s new SMR cluster,” trade, industry and energy minister Ahn Duk-geun said at the president’s town hall meeting. “The city is full of companies with superb nuclear power equipment manufacturing capabilities.”
Changwon, to the west of Busan in the south of the country, is already home to a number of companies that produce major components for nuclear power plants.
Since SMRs are expected to be manufactured and installed in modular forms, the plan is to produce them at factories. Given the limited number of countries with nuclear reactor manufacturing technology, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the government will step up policy efforts to take the lead in the SMR market.
The government significantly increases the budget to develop and export small modular reactors by 2028 by more than nine times to about $49 billion this year. It plans to launch South Korean SMRs in the global market. South Korea has several PWR type designs for SMRs that are in the development stage. It is also a possibility that South Korean heavy industry firms may license SMR designs already or nearly complete in other countries.
Financial Incentives
The government will also offer tax benefits to SMR and nuclear power plant manufacturers. The trade ministry estimates that such tax benefits will lead to an increase in R&D spending and facility investment in the sector by more than $750 million this year alone.
The government has earmarked $3 billion for next-generation nuclear power plant R&D through 2027 when President Yoon’s five-year term ends. This year, the government also plans to draw up a “mid- to long-term policy roadmap” to support the nuclear energy sector, upon legislation of the special act for the nuclear power industry.
The policies to be introduced range from nuclear power plant construction to operation, related industry support, R&D and human resources training.
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Rolls-Royce Looks to Europe for First SMR Customers
A highly irritated CEO at Rolls-Royce indicated this week the firm has lost confidence in the UK government’s efforts to support the development of a fleet of small modular reactors in the country.Rolls-Royce has been promoting its 470 MW PWR type mid-size reactor as a solution to the nation’s energy needs. The firm has presented a plans for 16 of them to be built at various sites around the nation.
However, the process to select which model of small nuclear reactor, among a field of six competitors, is used in Britain has been beset by delays. Bureaucratic disputes about funding and policy issues has tied up a plan to make multiple awards of significant funding for SMRs. A prior ‘SMR competition” in 2015 ended without any significant awards of funding.
As a result of the current delays, Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO at Rolls-Royce, says that the first Rolls-Royce mini nuclear reactor will be built in Europe instead of Britain “if UK ministers continue on a path of failure to make up their minds about SMRs.”
Erginbilgic said he was confident the company’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology was still far ahead of competitors. He told the Telegraph newspaper that time was running out for the UK to benefit from its “first mover” advantage, as Rolls has also held talks about deploying SMRs in eastern Europe.
His claims about market advantage in Poland, Romania, and other countries need to be taken with grain or two of salt as several other firms including GE-Hitachi and NuScale, among others, have made inroads in developing sale prospects with these nations.
Erginbilgic’s complaints come as Great British Nuclear (GBN), the public body set up to lead the UK’s nuclear power revival, is preparing to choose which SMR prototypes to support from a shortlist of six companies, including Rolls-Royce. GBN had promised to make the awards this spring, but that date is now in doubt according to news reports.
In the UK, the company is the only SMR developer to have reached the second stage of the new generic design assessment process for nuclear reactors, with CEO Erginbilgic arguing this puts it in pole position in the GBN competition.
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Westinghouse to Evaluate AP1000s in Netherlands
- Feasibility Study to Evaluate Deployment of Two Reactors at Borssele Nuclear Power Station
Westinghouse Electric Company announced the signing of a contract with the Dutch government to conduct a Technical Feasibility Study (TFS) assessing the deployment of AP1000 reactors in support of their nuclear new-build strategy.
This comprehensive study will evaluate deployment of two AP1000 nuclear reactors at the Borssele Nuclear Power Station. The TFS represents a significant step forward in the country’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, aligning with the European Union’s climate goals and the Dutch commitment to carbon-neutral electricity production by 2035.
Borssele, in the province of Zeeland in the southwest of the Netherlands, is the country’s only commercial nuclear power station. It has a single 482-MW pressurized water reactor unit that began commercial operation in 1973. In December 2022 the Dutch government chose the Borssele site as its preferred location for the proposed construction of two new nuclear power reactor units. The government is also considering reactors from France’s EDF, South Korea’s KHNP, and Westinghouse. Reactors from Russia or China are not under consideration.
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China / Construction Of Two Hualong One Nuclear Plants Begins At Jinqimen
- State media puts cost of project south of Shanghai at $6.2 billion
(NucNet) The construction of the first phase of China National Nuclear Corporation’s Jinqimen nuclear power station has officially begun in Zhejiang province, eastern China. The Jinqimen-1 and -2 project will have two indigenous Hualong One, or HPR1000 pressurized water reactor units.
Construction at the site, near Ningbo to the south of Shanghai, began on February 18th at a cost of the project of $6.2 billion.
Hualong One (HPR 1000) is the 3rd-generation nuclear power brand to which China has exclusive intellectual property rights. HPR 1000 is jointly developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN).
The Hualong One power output will be 1170 MWe gross, 1090 MWe net, with a 60-year design life, and would use a combination of passive and active safety systems with a double containment.
It has a 177 assembly core design with an 18-month refuelling cycle with 4.45% enriched fuel. The power plant’s utilization rate is as high as 90%. CNNC has said its active and passive safety systems, double-layer containment and other technologies meet the highest international safety standards.
Chinese state owned news media reports are that all core components are manufactured in China and that 17 universities and research institutions, 58 state-owned enterprises, and over 140 private firms across China worked on Hualong One’s development to ensure all core components were able to be produced domestically
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