Planned small nuclear project in Utah reaches milestone

• 5 years ago (2019-07-22)
• David Flin

North America 1021 Nuclear 659

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Enough communities in Utah, USA have agreed to purchase nuclear power from a small modular reactor planned at the Idaho National Laboratory , triggering the next phase in its development. Participating members in the Carbon Free Power Project have signed contracts that total more than 150MW, which means there will be an increased focus on site characterisation and preparing a licence for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission .

The small modular reactors (SMR) developed by NuScale would be the first of its kind in the USA, made up of 12 individual 60MW modules, for a total gross output of 720MW.

The Carbon Free Power Project is a project of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, and includes 34 participating members, mostly cities.

The project is backed by the US Department of Energy, which gave NuScale an award of $226 million in 2013 to develop the technology, and $16.7 million for licensing preparation in 2015.

Two of the modules will be used by the Idaho National Laboratory to support research and deliver power to the facility.