Overview of the SMR World: Plans, Designs, and ... Documents/Central...SVBR-100 ; Plans, Designs,...

Overview of the SMR World:

Plans, Designs, and Applications

September 24, 2013

Philip Young, CHP Tetra Tech

Overview of the SMR World: Plans, Designs, and Applications

Presentation Outline

SMR Types and Attributes

Potential Applications for SMRs Baseload Electricity Generation for Areas with Limited Grid

Capacity Electricity Generation for Remote Locations and Military

Installations Desalination Process Heat for Industrial Applications and District Heating

Economics of SMRs

Conclusion


SMR Types and Attributes – Light-Water Reactors


SMR Types and Attributes – Non-Light-Water Reactors

Name MWe Type Refuelling Cycle Developer

HTR-PM 2x105 HTR NR INET, China

EM2 240 HTR Up to 30 years General Atomic, USAs

SC HTGR 250 HTR NR AREVA, France

4S 10 FNR-Na 30 years Toshiba, Japan

PRISM 311 FNR-Na 12 to 24 months GE-Hitachi, USA

Gen4 25 FNR-PbBi 10 years Gen4 Energy, USA

SVBR 100 FNR-PbBi 7 to 8 years AKME-engineering, Russia


Examples of SMRs

Light-Water Reactors


B&W mPower Reactor

Pressurized light water reactor

180 Mwe Power Output

4 year refueling cycle

Source: Babcock.com


Twin Pack” mPower Plant Site Layout

Water- or air-cooled condenser option

48-month operating cycle

3-year construction schedule

2 x 180 MWe units Compact < 40-acre site footprint Low profile, separated Nuclear Island and Turbine Island All safety-related SSCs below grade Rail shippable, largely modularized

mPower “Twin Pack” Site Layout with Water-Cooled Condenser


NuScale Power


45 Mwe Power Output

Typically in groups of 6 or 12 modules

24 month refueling cycle

Source: nuscalepower.com


System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor (SMART) Pressurized light water reactor 100 Mwe Power Output 3 year refueling cycle


CAREM


27 Mwe Power Output 1 year refueling cycle

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Holtec SMR 180 MWe Power

Output ~5 Acre footprint Robust design for all

accidents and beyond design basis accidents Passive safety systems Reactor is underground Spent fuel storage

underground

Approx. 4 year refueling cycle

Short outage period, 5 days

High capacity factor, >99%

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Westinghouse SMR


225 MWe Power Output

15 acre site 24 month refueling

interval Passive safety systems

based on the AP1000 plant design

Source: westinghousenuclear.com


Examples of SMRs

Sodium-cooled fast reactors


Toshiba 4S: Super‐Safe, Small, and Simple

Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

10 MWe Power Output 30-Year life, no refueling

Source: US Department of Energy


4S Footprint

~200m

~100

m


GE Prism Reactor

Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

311 MWe Power Output

12 - 24 month refueling cycle

Integrated Spent Fuel Recycling Center



Examples of SMRs

High-temperature Gas-cooled Reactors


General Atomics EM2 Reactor

Source: ga.com

Helium-cooled, graphite moderated

240 MWe of power at 850° C

The core life expectancy is ~30 years (using used nuclear fuel and DU) without refueling


Examples of SMRs

Lead-bismuth Cooled Reactors


SVBR-100

100 MWe Power Output Based on Russian Alfa

Class submarine reactor >80 reactor-years of

operating experience Reactor core replaced

every 8 years Demonstration unit

under construction in Dimitrovgrad Expected to begin

operation in 2018


Gen4 Power Module Lead-bismuth cooling, primary and secondary

loops 25 MWe Power Output No refueling - entire

reactor module replaced every 7 to 10 years



Potential Applications for SMRs

Baseload Electricity Generation for Areas with Limited Grid Capacity

Electricity Generation for Remote Locations

Desalination

Process Heat for Industrial Applications and District Heating


Electricity Generation for Areas of Limited Grid Capacity Nuclear power currently provides approximately 15% of

the world's electricity 436 nuclear power plants in 31 countries

SMRs would appear to be a feasible power option for countries that have grid capacity of 2,000-3,000 MW.

The large, gigawatt-scale nuclear plants, such as the AP-1000, are not appropriate for countries with grid capacities of this size.

SMRs may be an attractive alternative due to their ability to be used as both incremental and distributed generation sources.

Overview of the SMR World: Plans, Designs, and Applications Electricity Generation for

Remote Locations or Military Installations SMRs can provide

electricity to areas or communities that are not connected to a larger electricity transmission grid (i.e., remote areas)

These remote areas could include isolated villages or remote mining or other industrial operations

SMRs can provide secure, dependable power for military installations


Galena, Alaska Case Study

Galena Alaska, is an isolated village that is not connected to the grid

Fossil fuel is transported on river barges during the three to four months per year when the Yukon River is not frozen

Galena maintains a total storage capacity of more than 3 million gallons of diesel fuel

The cost of electricity is more than three times the national average

Beginning in August 2003, Galena began discussions with Toshiba Corporation on the 4S reactor


Floating Nuclear Power Plants

Provide floating vessels featuring self-contained heat and power nuclear power plants

The stations are to be factory built and towed to coastal waters near a city, a town or an industrial facility

Would deploy a single vessel with two modified KLT-40 reactors together providing up to 70 MWe or 300 MW of heat.

To be used mainly in the Russian Arctic, including in offshore oil and gas field development


Desalination

More than 1 billion persons worldwide do not have access to potable water

This results in more than 3 billion cases of illness and two million deaths per year from water-related diseases

There are ~15,000 desalination plants world-wide

The major technology today is reverse osmosis (RO) driven by electric pumps The RO process requires up to 6 kWh of electricity per cubic meter of

water Integrated nuclear desalination plants have been well-proven

with over 150 reactor-years of experience, mainly in Kazakhstan, India and Japan.


Process Heat

Nuclear energy is an excellent source of process heat for various industrial applications , especially for HTGRs producing heat at over 700°C.

Examples of industrial processes that could use the process heat and/or electricity produced by SMRs include: Recovery of oil from tar sands Oil refining Coal to liquids Hydrogen for agricultural fertilizers Biomass-based ethanol production Hydrogen Production


Process Heat for Hydrogen Production

Nuclear power’s role in hydrogen production can be accomplished in several ways: low-temperature electrolysis of water high-temperature electrolysis of steam, using heat and electricity

from nuclear reactors use of nuclear heat to assist steam reforming of natural gas, high-temperature thermochemical production using nuclear heat.


Economics of SMRs

The path for SMRs to become economically viable is much different than that of large nuclear plants

The SMR model is highly reliant on the economies of factory manufacturing

This assumes that substantial cost savings can be obtained through offsite factory fabrication of modules


Economics of SMRs (cont.) A key component of this

model is that improvements in fabrication productivity will be seen over time as the number of modules produced has increased. Various related

manufacturing industries (e.g., shipbuilding) have demonstrated these factory manufacturing efficiency gains.

It is reasonable to assume that SMR manufacturing would see a similar effect.


Economics of SMRs (cont.)

Current vendor-prepared cost estimates indicate that construction costs ($/KW) and Operations and Maintenance costs ($/KW-hr) for SMRs will be comparable with those for the large, gigawatt-scale plants. Detailed engineering data for most SMR designs are less than 20

percent complete and no US factory has advanced beyond the planning stages.

Therefore, until one of these SMRs is actually built and installed, these cost values represent “paper” estimates.


Conclusion

SMRs are a good source of baseload electrical power to countries with small to medium electric grids

SMRs can also be used for many other applications including remote locations desalination process heat for industrial applications and district heating, hydrogen production

SMRs could be deployed in countries that currently lack the qualified engineers and skilled craft workers needed to construct large reactors on site

The economics of SMRs still need to be validated through actual manufacturing and deployment


Questions and Discussion

Philip Young, CHP Tetra Tech, Inc.

Aiken, SC 803-641-4940

[email protected]

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