THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - FEBRUARY 2018
SMRs prepare to take
the Gen 3 crown
In the wake of the NNL analysis, in
2016 the UK government launched a
competition to consider SMR designs
of up to 300 MWe, and which are able
to achieve in-factory production of
modular components or systems
amounting to a minimum of 40 per
cent of the total plant cost. That
competition closed in December
2017, with a list of more than 30 eligible
participants including companies
such as NuScale Power LLC,
Rolls-Royce, Westinghouse, Urenco
and China National Nuclear Corporation
(CNNC).
For the next phase of the modular
reactor programme organisations can
apply for a share of up to £4 million
to develop feasibility projects. Up to
£40 million of further funding may be
available for development, subject to
government approval. Further details
on the UK’s SMR support are expected
to emerge early this year.
As an eligible participant Rolls-
Royce is leading a consortium of
companies including Amec Foster
Wheeler, Arup, Laing O’Rourke and
Nuvia in designing a small modular
reactor power station that aims to
produce electricity for as low as
£60/MWh.
The increased interest in SMR
technology has also prompted interest
beyond the UK.
Late last year, Rolls-Royce and
state-owned Jordan Atomic Energy
Commission (JAEC) revealed plans
for a feasibility study on the construction
of an SMR in the Middle
Eastern nation. This followed a similar
agreement between Rosatom and
Jordan which is also exploring the
feasibility of SMRs. Last November,
the JAEC and X Energy also announced
an agreement for assessing
X-energy’s SMR technology – the
Xe-100 – and its potential for deployment
in Jordan.
Meanwhile, Rosatom and the King
of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz
bin Abdul Rahman bin Saud,
also recently agreed a roadmap to
cooperate in the field of small and
medium reactors that could be used
for both power generation and water
desalination.
Regulatory design approval is still
some way off for SMR technology,
which is at an early stage of technical
development. However, the potential
advantages of a broad SMR roll-out
are significant. The rise of the small
modular reactor could reinvigorate
nuclear development across western
Europe, the USA and elsewhere. This
could see SMRs ultimately dwarf the
endeavours of their larger cousins.
Globally, nuclear power is entering
something of a renaissance
as third generation (Gen 3)
civil reactors establish a new breed of
safer, more responsive and ostensibly
cheaper nuclear reactor designs.
Based on the second generation
designs that form the bulk of the
current global fleet of operating nuclear
reactors, Gen 3 systems include
passive safety cooling to maintain
core temperatures in the event of a
power failure and better protection
against aircraft impacts. Passive
safety features, for example, include
gravity-fed water supplies to flood
the reactor and which do not require
either power or manual intervention
to activate.
Alongside improved safety characteristics,
these later designs also nod
to plant economics and the changing
dynamic of the energy markets these
reactors are expected to operate
within. For instance, common features
of these designs are a more
standardised approach to reduce
costs, together with higher efficiency
operations and a longer operational
life of 50-60 years. This compares
with the current second generation
lifespan of 20-30 years, a figure
which can be increased by another 20
years or so if required.
Modular construction methods are
also expected to curb costs by reducing
construction times. Unlike previous
generations of reactors, most of
the Gen 3 and 3+ designs also enable
load-following, with the ability to
reduce output by as much as 75 per
cent and ramp-up and down relatively
quickly as required.
The bulk of Gen 3 designs are currently
undergoing regulatory approvals
to be licensed for construction by
authorities such as the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. In December,
for instance, Hitachi Nuclear
Energy Europe’s UK Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor (ABWR) reactor
design was granted design approval.
Horizon Nuclear Power plans to use
the technology at its sites at Wylfa
Newydd on the Isle of Anglesey in
Wales and its Oldbury site in Gloucestershire,
UK.
However, a few of these designs
which have already received regulatory
go-ahead are under construction.
For example, EDF-Areva’s European
Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) is
under construction at Olkiluoto in
Finland, Flamanville in France and
the design is also expected to feature
in Hinkley Point C in the UK. Two
units are also under construction at
Taishan in China, which are likely to
be the first in operation although all
the EPRs currently under construction
have been subject to delays.
Indeed, mainland China already has
about 20 nuclear units of various designs
currently under construction.
With plans to increase nuclear capacity
by about 70 per cent to reach some
58 GW by 2020, China is further anticipated
to reach 150 GW of nuclear
capacity by 2030. For example, Unit
3 of Tianwan reached first criticality
in late December. Based on a Russian
VVER-1000 design, Rostaom’s Atomstroyexport
or ASE Group conducted
the construction of Tianwan
together with Jiangsu Nuclear Power
Corporation (JNPC). Commencement
of commercial operations is planned
for 2018.
Meanwhile, EPRs at the Taishan site
in China are nearing completion by a
consortium of China General Nuclear
Power Corporation (CGN) together
with EDF and Guangdong Yuedian
Group. CGN and EDF are working
closely to assess the design of the
China-developed third-generation
Hualong One (HPR1000) nuclear
technology as part of a plan to build
an export market with its domestic
nuclear technology such as the CAP
1000 and the HPR 1000.
Russia is also pushing hard to export
its nuclear technology with a raft of
deals announced over recent months
that look to put the Middle East at the
centre of new nuclear development.
In December, for example, Egypt
inked a deal with Russia’s Rosatom to
build the $21 billion Dabaa nuclear
power plant in the Matrouh region on
the Mediterranean coast. With four
reactors and a capacity of 5 GW, the
installation is due to be completed in
2029 with the first unit coming on line
in 2026.
December also saw first criticality
procedures begin at Unit 1 of Leningrad
NPP-2, a generation 3+ plant
that is the basis of the El Dabaa project.
Russian loans are expected to
deliver around 85 per cent of the
funding for the Egyptian nuclear
project.
In Turkey, December saw the start
of construction at the Akkuyu nuclear
power plant under a limited construction
licence issued by the Turkish
Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK). Unit
1 of the 4800 MWe will take place.
On completion, the plant will feature
four VVER-1200 power units. A
Generation 3+ design, Akkuyu’s reactors
are to be based on the Novovoronezh
2 project in Russia which
was first commissioned in 2016.
Yet the challenges in developing
new nuclear technology and associated
capacity have caused multiple
delays and cost overruns, a seemingly
perennial black mark against larger
reactor developments. For example,
although China’s nuclear power goals
are ambitious and the country typically
excels at executing large infrastructure
projects, both units at Taishan
have reportedly been delayed – to
2018 and 2019, respectively – by the
need for further design verification.
These challenges have in turn led
to economic malaise for some nuclear
technology firms. For example, in
January it was revealed that Canada’s
Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
and its institutional partners are to
acquire the bankrupt Westinghouse
Electric Company for approximately
$4.6 billion after reaching a deal
with previous owners Toshiba. The
acquisition is expected to close in the
third quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory
approvals.
Westinghouse had recently abandoned
a two-reactor project by South
Carolina Electric & Gas Company at
the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.
The ongoing challenges of large
civil nuclear programmes has now
prompted renewed interest in a generation
of smaller, modular reactors
or SMRs. These emerging SMR designs
can potentially avoid the complexities,
delays and overspends often
associated with large infrastructure
projects, like civil nuclear stations.
Indeed, one of the characteristics of
many new generation 3 reactor designs
is their relatively small size. For
example, the Westinghouse Small
Modular Reactor is a 225 MW integral
PWR based on AP1000 technology,
including its passive safety systems.
As with their larger cousins,
there is also a move to a more standardised
approach.
SMRs could potentially be manufactured
in factories like the aviation
industry, slashing costs and the decades
long production lead times
more typically associated with nuclear
power projects.
The UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory
(NNL) published a feasibility
study into the potential use of SMR
technology in 2014, concluding that
there is a very significant market for
SMRs that cannot be met by large
nuclear plants. The size of the SMR
market could reach approximately
65-85 GW by 2035, and at a value of
£250-£400 billion. The UK market
for SMRs could be around 7 GW, the
analysis concluded, noting that there
is an opportunity for the UK to regain
technology leadership.
14 Energy Outlook
Several third
generation nuclear
plants are under
construction around
the world but the
challenges facing
large nuclear new
build projects are well
documented. Recent
developments
with small modular
reactors (SMRs)
could provide the
answer the industry
has been looking for.
David Appleyard