Demonstrating the viability of SMRs will require overcoming many technical, regulatory, financial and institutional challenges. The following provides a brief description of program activities that have been completed, are underway, or are being considered to help resolve the generically-applicable licensing, economic, and commercialization challenges that may be faced by both the near-term licensable and advanced, next-generation SMR designs and concepts. The concepts were vetted with industry stakeholders to assure that there was general agreement on their intrinsic value, and the studies were commissioned using a small portion of the SMR LTS program budget.
SITING
Title: Analysis of Hampton Roads Area and other High Federal Energy Clusters for SMR Siting
Completion Date: August 2014
Objective: Using industry-accepted practices in screening sites and employing an array of data sources and computational capabilities including geographical information systems (GIS), identify clusters of federal sector high-energy use around the U.S. and evaluate future electrical generation deployment options for several of these sites at a high level, and at a detailed level for the Hampton Roads, Virginia metropolitan area.
Result: Identified the top federal energy use clusters nation-wide, evaluated in detail candidate sites around Hampton Roads Area and conducted a sensitivity analysis on reducing Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) radii by varying parameters of interest.
Product Reports:
Identification of Selected Areas to Support Federal Clean Energy Goals Using Small Modular Reactors
Impact: The NRC will be informed by the EPZ sensitivity analysis when undertaking the question of appropriately sized EPZs for SMRs. Additionally, evaluating the feasibility of siting SMRs in locations that are not available for existing large plant designs will have a positive impact on the viewpoint of potential customers and to improve the overall commercialization outlook.
Title: Analysis of Small Modular Reactors Suitability for Air Force Space Command Installations
Completion Date: April 2016
Objective: This study identified unique requirements for placement of an SMR on Air Force Space Command installations in Colorado, identified future actions required to facilitate deployment of SMRs on Department of Defense (DoD) sites from the government as well as from potential partnerships with utilities/operators of such an SMR, and contributes to an understanding of the market potential for broad federal installation.
Result: Provides the Air Force an economic and environmental basis for the potential use of SMRs to meet mission critical energy security and greenhouse reduction goals.
Impact: This study can be used to inform energy choices for the DoD, as well as other federal installations with mission critical facilities, when considering sustainability, energy independence, and energy reliability.
Status: Sandia National Lab evaluated candidate AFSPC bases and stations and downselected to 2 locations for detailed study. DOE has provided access to the ORNL ORSAGE tool for use in generating siting analysis reports to examine the AFSPC sites. The final report was issued March 2016
Oak Ridge Analysis for Power Generation Expansion (OR-SAGE)
For Alaska - click here.
For Hawaii - click here.
LICENSING
For SMR designs to compete economically with the large plants and with other fuel sources, it is critical that the governing regulations appropriately account for the increased plant simplifications, reduced risk factors, and anticipated increase in safety margins to be incorporated into the designs. Licensing issues and requirements specific to the deployment of SMRs typically result from design philosophies and features that are significantly different from traditional Generation II and III light water-based plants. Items in this area will help to improve the regulatory outlook for the generic class of SMRs.
Title: Technologies for SMR Staffing Optimization
Completion Date: March 2016
Objective: Technical gap analysis of nuclear plant functional areas relevant to SMR designs to identify technologies and insights that can be applied to safely optimize staffing levels needed to operate the plant.
Result: The project identified, evaluated, and documented 25 Technologies and/or Design Details (TDDs) that when implemented would substantially reduce the staffing required for evolving SMR plants. These TDDs embrace work functions from the 10 plant functional areas (numbers in parentheses represent the number of TDDs selected for each given area):
•Chemistry (3)
•Radiation Protection (4)
•Maintenance (5)
•Engineering (3)
•Operations (2)
•Outage Management (0)
•Training (1)
•Emergency Preparedness (2)
•Warehousing and Supply Chain (2)
•Security (3)
Impact: Owner/Operators, SMR designers, Engineering Procurement and Construction contractors, industry regulatory support groups, and related Research and Development groups can each take specific actions to achieve the benefits of the technologies and / or design details.
Title: Source Term Evaluation
Completion Date: Phase 1 Mid-2014 / Phase 2: Late 2016
Objective: Phase 1: Evaluate relevant aerosol deposition experimental data and analytical correlations that were generated since 1993 for relevance to integral light water-based SMRs. Each of the natural aerosol removal phenomena were analyzed for applicability to expected geometries, dimensions, and post-accident transient thermal-hydraulic conditions in SMR containments. Phase 2: Evaluate and execute a new set of experiments to support SMR-unique conditions.
Result: Evaluated the basis for a reduction of design basis and beyond-design-basis accident source terms with correspondingly smaller dose to workers and the public. For Phase 2, the Electric Power Research Institute will develop a path forward to conduct bench scale experimentation to validate the phenomenology driving the reduced source term by 2Q FY15. Full Report
Impact: The results will inform NRC acceptance of SMR containment aerosol natural deposition correlations that will directly support the industry goal of reducing the EPZ required for SMRs with attendant cost reductions and increased ability to site SMRs closer to populated areas. Expect Phase 2 to provide a technical basis to adequately support the conclusion that reduced SMR source terms are reasonable.
Status: EPRI is currently developing an experimental plan and performing due diligence to identify a laboratory or university that has appropriate capability to conduct the fundamental experiments required.
ECONOMICS
Development of objective cost models incorporating the promised benefits of SMR designs is needed to provide a basis for making government investment decisions, informing government loan-guarantee decisions, and for communicating financial considerations to potential decision makers. These efforts will help quantify the business case for SMRs and develop a capability to support SMR technology/ capability comparisons and will include implications on the supply chain infrastructure needed to support the SMR business model.
Title: EPIC Small Modular Reactors-Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S.
Completion Date: November 2011
Objective: Examine the economic prospects for SMRs.
Result: SMRs could be an attractive option for nuclear deployment as long as the factory fabrication processes resulted in learning effects that would drive down costs with increasing experience as has been seen in many other industries.
Impact: Has served as a springboard for numerous studies undertaken to expand and update our understanding of the potential for SMRs.
Title: Study on Manufacturing Learning
Completion Date: August 2013
Objective: This study continued the work done in the EPIC study and was completed in August 2013. The study analyzed the costs for the production of factory-built components for an SMR economy for an iPWR design and the modeling focused on the components that are contained in an integrated reactor vessel.
Result: The study supported the learning assumptions made in the EPIC report. It is also emphasized the extent to which learning in other industries can be transferred to SMRs, thereby lowering the initial costs of a first-of-a-kind SMR that would be starting from scratch. Due to the maturity of the nuclear industry and significant transfer of knowledge from the gigawatt (GW)-scale reactor production to the small modular reactor economy, the first complete SMR facsimile design would have incorporated a significant amount of learning (averaging about 80% as compared with a prototype unit). Assuming a minimum lot size of five or about 500 MWe, the average production cost of the first-of-the kind units are projected to average about 65% of the cost of the first prototype unit (the Lead unit) that would not have incorporated any learning.
Reactor Vessel Manufacturing Study Volume 1
Reactor Vessel Manufacturing Study Volume 2
Impact: Provides a basis for DOE investments in SMR-specific manufacturing capabilities in future programs aimed at improving the deployment potential for SMRs as a clean energy option.
Title: Update to EPIC Report: Electricity Generating Portfolios with Small Modular Reactors
Completion Date: September 2014
Objective: This study updated cost estimates not only for SMRs but also for potentially competing electricity generation technologies including natural gas power plants.
Result: SMRs can replace fossil units in a portfolio of coal and natural gas generating stations to reduce the levelized cost risk associated with the volatility of natural gas prices and the unknown cost of CO2 associated with fossil-fueled combustion at average levelized costs that are less than average current electricity prices.
Impact: Evaluated the choices facing utilities as they consider building new generating capacity, provides a basis for the maintaining a nuclear fuel component of utilities electricity generation portfolio as a way to minimize LCOE risk based on fuel price uncertainties.
Title: Supply Chain Optimization Study: Georgia Tech
Completion Date: Mid-Late FY2016
Objective: This study, involving Georgia Tech and Westinghouse, will identify, address, and resolve challenges and deficiencies in current modular construction methods by investigating ways to reduce waste during the manufacturing process, and to improve quality, efficiency, and throughput on SMR parts, components or modules, and thus improve the economics of SMR development.
Result: A set of financial indicators that will be used to measure the cost impacts of various approaches to supply chain design and modular construction
Impact: The study may provide insights for SMR vendors and potential owners as to ways that SMR costs can be managed.
Status: Currently developing a software tool to evaluate the total capital investment cost based on component costs, financing costs, and manufacture and assembly location. Different module construction strategies and their impacts on cash flow and schedule are being compared.
COMMERCIALIZATION
A key goal for the U.S. government support for SMRs needs to be improving the domestic and international commercialization outlook for the industry. SMR LTS program management is continuing to work with US utilities and the international community through public forums and focused interactions aimed at better understanding the barriers that the industry perceives are preventing the widespread deployment of SMRs and coming up with actions that will help to remove these barriers.
Title: Update EPRI Light Water Reactor Utility Requirements Document (URD) to Incorporate SMR Characteristics
Completion Date: December 2014
Objective: Develop a clear, common and consistent understanding of owner-operator requirements to enable successful and sustainable commercialization of light-water SMRs.
Result: An expansion of the URD to address small LWR technologies. Specifically, the revised URD content formed the basis for a revision of the EPRI URD. Resulted in very few substantial changes (~3%), including establishing emphasis on source term supporting EPZ reduction, extending planned plant life to 60 years, and establishing a plant availability target of 95%.
Impact: Created a long-term standardized and comprehensive set of requirements and will serve as a basis for technology evaluations and identification of general SMR Research & Development needs.
Title: Wall Street (Financial) Perspectives on New Nuclear Generation (Surveys)
Completion Date: Annually 2013, 2014, 2015
Objective: Provide a systematic and in-depth collection of insight from the investment community, typically a broad cross section of over 50 Wall Street commercial and investment bankers, rating agencies, institutional investors, and specialty investors, across a range of electric generation technologies and policy issues, including nuclear energy include specific questions addressing SMRs, to better understanding the market.
Result: The 2013 survey results regarding SMRs were dominated by uncertainty relative to community understanding of the economic viability of SMRs, and indicated that there may be value in further engagement with the community to educate and inform on SMRs. Recurrent themes in the 2014 survey included concerns regarding cheap and plentiful natural gas, weak electrical demand growth, the fact that renewables are major players, a minimal antinuclear sentiment, and increasing pressure on coal as a baseload energy source.
2013 Wall Street Perspective on SMRs
2014 Wall Street Perspective on SMRs
2014 Wall Street Perspectives on SMRs (report)
2015 Wall Street Perspectives on SMRs
Impact: Provides DOE insight into energy investment community perspective and may provide ideas on how DOE can educate and help to shape their thinking, possibly positively impacting the availability of funding for potential SMR owners.
Title: Business Case for Small Modular Reactors, Report on Findings
Completion Date: October 2014
Objective: To perform a market analysis and identify steps that might be taken to improve the commercialization potential for SMRs, including considering changes in policies, programs, and incentives that would promote the deployment of SMRs both domestically and internationally.
Result: Study showed that although there are barriers to implementing the SMR technology today, namely economic conditions in the electricity market, there is a potentially willing domestic and international market for SMRs that will be stimulated and improved by a combination of Government incentives, program investments, and policy development and implementation which will help SMRs to be competitive with other current generation technologies.
Impact: The project’s financial model will be used to understand the magnitude of the incentives that would be needed to cause a measurable impact on the project economics.
Title: Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaboration Activities
Completion Date: Complete
Objective: This was a joint DOE/NIST/NRC/Industry-funded effort to identify and develop industry standards (ANS, ASME, IEEE, ASTM, etc.) that would be advantageous to new nuclear power plants, including the current iPWR SMR designs.
Result: The committee identified new standards necessary to support current light water designs and other advanced reactors such as Sodium Fast Reactors.
Impact: Most of the efforts of this committee focused on standards that are generic to the nuclear industry, such as advanced concrete standards.
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