DOE SMR Workshop Report

Agenda

DOE Workshop: Pathway to SMR Commercialization

In November 2015, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative to accelerate innovation of advanced nuclear technologies by providing potential industry partners with opportunities to access the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercialization. GAIN is expected to provide a vehicle for support of public-private partnerships to achieve national goals established by the DOEOffice of Nuclear Energy (NE). NE has been supporting the development of domestic small modular reactor (SMR) designs through the SMR Licensing Technical Support (LTS) program, which provides financial assistance for SMR design development and efforts leading to design certification, site permit, and license approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. DOE continues to believe that SMRs could play an important role in addressing the energy, economic, and environmental goals of the U.S.

The ultimate path to successful commercialization of SMR technologies will depend on many factors, including economic competitiveness, regulatory measures to reduce carbon emissions, market growth, as well as others. Two related areas in which the Department has an interest are: (1) manufacturing technologies to reduce cost and schedule for SMR parts and components and meet the demands of the industry as it grows; and (2) additional SMR capabilities beyond baseload electricity generation, including use of SMRs in hybrid energy systems and in meeting national security needs.

DOE recognizes the need for a collaborative path forward with industry to determine the optimum set of activities that could achieve the goal of ensuring successful SMR deployments. Therefore, DOE requests domestic industry participation in a 2-day comprehensive workshop to elicit opinions on the two key topics identified above. The workshop will include participation from domestic vendors, utilities, nuclear supply chain entities, laboratories, universities, or other related professional organizations to provide input and ideas in support of the DOE SMR commercialization goals. The first day will address the question of what manufacturing techniques, capabilities, or process improvements could provide the most significant benefit(s) for improving SMR economics, and how to accomplish the transition from prototype fabrication capability to a robust SMR manufacturing enterprise. The second day of the workshop will address the question of what SMR capabilities should be developed further to improve the global marketability of SMRs. Participants should consider SMR-focused concepts that support the development of any non-electric applications, the use of SMR-generated process heat in various industrial and community environments, capabilities to deliver secure power to critical missions, improvements in load-following capabilities to support grid stability, and the use of SMRs as a component of hybrid energy systems, as examples.

Workshop results will help inform DOE’s future program plans to support the development of a domestic SMR industry with the ultimate goal of positioning U.S. SMRs to succeed. The maturation of SMR technologies is integral to promoting the Administration’s “all of the above” energy strategy, contributing towards meeting national climate and clean energy goals, and facilitating U.S. industrial competitiveness.

PRESENTATIONS

• Day 1: Alison Hann, Department of Energy
• Day 1: Allan Robertson, Lehigh Heavy Forge
• Day 1: David Blee, Nuclear Infrastructure Council
• Day 1: David Gandy, Electric Power Research Institute
• Day 1: Dean Kothmann, Burns and McDonnell
• Day 1: Doug Lee, BWXT mPower
• Day 1: James Stouch, Precision Custom Components
• Day 1: Jared DeMerritt, BWXT mPower
• Day 1: Mike Kamnikar, North American Forgemasters
• Day 1: Scott Bailey, NuScale
• Day 1: Shane Johnson, Department of Energy
• Day 1: Tom Marcille, HOLTEC
• Day 1: Xianyaun Lou, General Electric

• Day 2: Bill Waugaman, Sandia National Laboratory
• Day 2: Chris Colbert, NuScale
• Day 2: Chris Deir, Ontario Power Generation
• Day 2: Chris Fallon, Duke Energy
• Day 2: Dan Ingersoll, NuScale
• Day 2: Dan Stout, Tennessee Valley Authority
• Day 2: Doug Lee, BWXT mPower
• Day 2: Jason Redd, Southern Company
• Day 2: Randy Belles, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Day 2: Simon Irish, Terrestrial Energy
• Day 2: Ted Rampton, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems
• Day 2: Tom Marcille, HOLTEC

PARKING AND METRO

The Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center is in the process of converting the conference center parking lot into a parking garage. During this construction there will be limited parking available on-site and the conference center parking lot will not be accessible. Valet parking services will be available on-site at the self-parking rate of $15.00 per day.

The White Flint Metro Station is the closest metro stop to the Bethesda North Marriott and is within walking distance of the Hotel.  Parking at the White Flint metro cost $8.60 per day. Parking at other metro stops may vary.

The Bethesda North Marriott has very few rooms available, so we are suggesting the following options.

HOTEL AVAILABILITIES

Courtyard Rockville
2500 Research Boulevard
Rockville, Maryland 20850
1-301-670-6700
5.5 miles from North Bethesda

Courtyard Chevy Chase
5520 Wisconsin Ave
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-301-656-1500
5.8 miles from North Bethesda

SpringHill Suites
Gaithersburg 9715 Washingtonian Blvd.
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878
1-301-987-0900
6 miles from North Bethesda

Courtyard Silver Spring Downtown
8506 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
1-301-589-4899
6.1 miles from North Bethesda

Residence Inn Gaithersburg
Washingtonian Center 9721 Washingtonian Blvd.
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878
1-301-590-3003
6.1 miles from North Bethesda