NuScale, Fluor nuclear SMR pilot project plan gains $1.3 billion boost from DOE
Power Engineering October 22,2020
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded up to $1.3 billion in funding to help move an Idaho small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project closer to reality. DOE awarded the Carbon-Free Project, which will include wholesale energy provider Utah Associated Municipal Systems (UAMPS), to develop NuScale Power’s first prospective SMR site. NuScale recently received final U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff approval for its SMR design. The company is partnering with engineering, procurement and construction firm Fluor Corp. on the UAMPS pilot. The 720-MW plant will utilize 12 NuScale SMRs, which offer a smaller footprint and lower cost structure than conventional large nuclear power plants.
US nuclear lab partnering with utility to produce hydrogen
The Associated Press via PBS
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded just under $14 million for an attempt to build a hydrogen-energy production facility at a nuclear power plant in Minnesota with the help of a nuclear research lab in Idaho. Idaho National Laboratory and Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy will work on devising and building the facility, most likely at Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Station in Red Wing, Minnesota. The project is part of the Energy Department’s strategy to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions using nuclear power to generate carbon-free energy. Vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells, for example, produce only water vapor and warm air as exhaust. Hydrogen could also be used in industry, such as in the production of steel.