The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved NuScale Power’s uprated 77-MWe power module design, making it the second small modular reactor design the NRC has cleared for use in the United States. NuScale submitted its standard design application on January 1, 2023, seeking a power uprate from its previously certified 50-MWe module. A full NuScale plant housing six of the uprated factory-built modules would produce 462 MWe total.
What it means
The certification allows companies to reference NuScale’s uprated design when applying for combined licenses or construction permits, opening a regulatory pathway for utilities and developers to build 77-MWe module plants without restarting the design-approval process. The uprated modules carry the same passive safety features as the 50-MWe design — using convection and gravity to cool the reactor without additional water, power, or operator action — along with select design changes. Six modules together are about a third of the size of a large-scale reactor, according to NuScale. The company said it is already performing front-end engineering work for RoPower’s 462-MWe plant in Romania using the uprated design, and has 12 power modules in production with manufacturing partner Doosan.
The Department of Energy said it has provided more than $575 million in support of the design and licensing of NuScale’s SMR plant. “NuScale is proud to have worked with the NRC and to have met its stringent regulatory application process as we continue to lead the way in the SMR industry with our second design approval,” said Carrie Fosaaen, NuScale’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Services.
Key facts
- 77 MWe — capacity of each uprated NuScale power module
- 462 MWe — total plant output with six uprated modules
- 50 MWe — capacity of NuScale’s previously certified design, cleared by the NRC in 2023
- 2 — total SMR designs approved by the NRC following this action
- 6 — maximum factory-built power modules per NuScale plant
- 12 — NuScale power modules currently in production with Doosan
- $575 million — DOE funding provided in support of NuScale SMR design and licensing (more than), according to the Department of Energy
- January 1, 2023 — date NuScale submitted its standard design application to the NRC
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, reporting a NuScale Power news release (energy.gov)