Posted on November 30, 2024 by djysrv
- Westinghouse and Core Power to Partner to eVinci for Floating Power
- Amazon to Invest $334 Million in Advanced Reactors at Columbia Generating Station
- GLE Buys Land in Paducah for Laser Enrichment Plant
- Pushing Forward with SMRs by Solving their Spent Fuel Issues
Westinghouse and Core Power to Partner to eVinci for Floating Power
In a first of a kind commercial proposal for a microreactor, Westinghouse announced it is partnering with CORE Power to develop floating nuclear power plants (FNNP) using its eVinci microreactor. The eVinci microreactor is being designed to produce 5MWe with a 15MWth core design.
The eVinci microreactor is being positioned for a variety of applications, including providing electricity and heating for remote communities, universities, mining operations, industrial centers, data centers, and defense facilities. This is the first time applications for the transportable device mentioned marine applications. The technology is expected to be factory-built and assembled before it is shipped in a container.
Conceptual Cross-section eVinci Microreactor. Image: Westinghouse
Under the agreement, Westinghouse and CORE POWER will cooperate in the design of a FNPP using the eVinci microreactor and its heat pipe technology. Heat pipe technology improves reliability while providing a simple, non-pressurized method of passively transferring heat.
Heat pipes in the eVinci microreactor transfer heat from the nuclear core to a power conversion system, eliminating the need for water cooling and the associated recirculation systems. In addition, the companies will collaborate to develop a regulatory approach to licensing FNPP systems.
In October 2023 Westinghouse launched a new design and manufacturing facility near downtown Pittsburgh to accelerate commercialization of the eVinci microreactor.
The eVinci “accelerator” is an 87,000 square-foot facility that will be home to engineering and licensing operations, testing, prototype trials, business development and sales. It also includes manufacturing space for producing the innovative heat pipes that are central to the eVinci technology, as well as other components.
Jon Ball, President of eVinci Technologies at Westinghouse, said, “We look forward to our partnership with CORE POWER, bringing the advantages of eVinci microreactors to maritime and coastal applications.”
Mike Boe, CEO of CORE POWER, said in a press statement, “A long series of identical turnkey power plants using multiple installations of the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor delivered by sea, creates a real opportunity to scale nuclear . . . Our unique partnership with Westinghouse is a game changer for how customers buy nuclear energy.”
Licensing Status of eVinci
At the NRC Westinghouse is in pre-licensing application engagement with the agency having submitted a series of topical reports. At CNSC the eVinci reactor is in the pre-licensing phase of Vendor Design Review. Phase 2 of the process began in June 2023.
Neither regulatory agency has published a calendar of milestones for the microreactor leading to a license application. However, the company has hired some heavy weight talent to develop its business.
CORE Power New Hires
In February 2024 US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chief of Staff Robert Bryans become the latest nuclear heavyweight to join UK-based nuclear start-up Core Power. Bryans will join Core Power’s US team based in Washington DC as vice president of government relations and strategic alliances.
The company said Bryans “brings unique maritime, engineering and nuclear experience along with a vast network of connections to support Core Power’s mission in the application of advanced nuclear technology for heavy industry and transport.”
Bryans served for three decades in the US Navy, commanding warships including an Aegis Arleigh Burke class destroyer and Ticonderoga class cruiser.
In March 2024 the company added former US Navy chief of naval operations Admiral John Richardson, former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment and energy security Richard G Kidd IV, law firm Hogan Lovells partner and global energy practice leader Amy Roma, and retired US Coast Guard rear admiral Joe Servidio to its advisory board.
The agreement with Westinghouse is a new initiative for CORE Power which previously had hung its technology hat on molten salt reactors. In November 2020 it announced the firm was part of a multinational team that said it has plans to develop an MSR-based marine reactor.
The team included CORE Power (UK) Ltd, Southern Company, TerraPower and Orano USA. It applied to take part in cost-share risk reduction awards under the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to build a proof-of-concept for a medium-scale commercial-grade marine reactor based on molten salt reactor (MSR) technology.
Molten Chloride SMR Consortium
In October 2023 the consortium called “The Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE)” at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) received a green light to test a Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) which is being developed by a consortium involving TerraPower, Southern Company, CORE POWER and others.
It is scheduled to run for approximately six months, after which it will be decommissioned, according to the Office of Nuclear Energy at the US Department of Energy (DOE).
Investors and Funded Partners
According to ‘Trade Winds,’ a marine shipping newsletter, more than a dozen Japanese companies have invested $80 million into Core Power including shipbuilders Onomichi Dockyard and Imabari Shipbuilding. Other investors are reported to include shipowners, operators, trading houses and related shipping investors. Details of these investments were not disclosed. According to Crunchbase, the total investor interest in the privately held firm is $105 million. According to a search of Linkedin profiles, the firm has just nine employees at this time (December 2024).
It remains unclear whether CORE Power is shifting gears from molten salt designs to the eVinci reactor or just adding it to its portfolio. In the molten salt consortium, the firm was one of six firms competing for investor and government funding for the project. In the agreement with Westinghouse, CORE Power will have support from financial backing from Westinghouse which has won numerous grants from the government of Canada for development and licensing of the eVinci reactor. Westinghouse is wholly owned by a joint Canadian based venture of Brookfield, a private equity firm, and Cameco, one of Canada’s leading uranium mining firms.
In March 2022 the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry granted Westinghouse Electric Canada CAD27.2 million ($21.5 million) to support further development and progress towards licensing of its eVinci micro reactor
In an email statement, a ministry spokesperson said that the investment will support funding for the development and eventual licensing of the eVinci micro-reactor. The spokesman said the grant was made because smaller size of the reactor design will result in a more accessible, widespread, and transportable nuclear source of energy with additional security and regulations to ensure its safety.
In addition to the Canadian market, CORE POWER emphasizes it is building a maritime civil nuclear program in the OECD/EU market through scalable nuclear technology solutions for maritime and heavy industries. CORE POWER’s mission is to deliver floating nuclear energy solutions from shipyard manufacturing centers. CORE POWER has offices in London, Washington DC, and Tokyo.
Cross Section of Nuclear Power for Marine Applications. Image: Core Power
Partnerships in Principle
World Nuclear News reported in February 2024 South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering announced plans to develop a small modular reactor for use in shipping in cooperation with the UK’s Core Power FNNP and the Southern Company and TerraPower. The plans were announced following a joint research and technology exchange meeting in Washington, DC, between KSOE – a subsidiary of South Korea’s HD Hyundai – and TerraPower and Core Power.
The meeting resulted in a memorandum of understanding was signed between Lloyd’s Register, Zodiac Maritime, KSOE and KEPCO Engineering & Construction for the development of nuclear-propelled ship designs, including bulk carriers and container ships. Under the joint development project, KSOE and Kepco E&C will provide designs for future vessels and reactors while Lloyd’s Register will assess rule requirements for safe operation and regulatory compliance models.
The partners will work to address the challenges involved with nuclear propulsion, such as applying existing terrestrial nuclear technology to ships, and the project will enable shipping company Zodiac to evaluate ship specifications and voyage considerations around nuclear technology.
In August 2024, Danish liner giant Maersk also teamed up with the company and Lloyd’s Register to study a potential next-generation nuclear-propelled feeder container ship. Maersk, Lloyds, and Core Power will assess the regulatory feasibility and frameworks that would be needed for a container ship using a fourth-generation nuclear reactor to undertake cargo operations in Europe.
Separately, CORE POWER has revealed a deal with Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) to study market conditions for the program in Japan.
Challenges and Opportunities
The investors group sees challenges ahead for marine nuclear power for commercial shipping. Reuters reports Ole Graa Jakobsen, Maersk’s head of fleet technology said, “Nuclear power holds a number of challenges related to for example safety, waste management, and regulatory acceptance across regions, and so far, the downsides have clearly outweighed the benefits of the technology.”
He added that the reason the group is undertaking its work is that “If these challenges can be addressed by development of the new so-called fourth-generation reactor designs, nuclear power could potentially mature into another possible decarbonization pathway for the logistics industry 10 to 15 years in the future.”
The IAEA notes it is the very mobility of these FNPPs that raises new questions, particularly when they move across international borders or operate in international, rather than territorial, waters. For example, how does the licensing and regulation process work when a FNPP is built and fueled in one country’s jurisdiction, and then transported to another jurisdiction?
Competition for Market Share in Floating Nuclear Power Plants
- A short list of current development efforts includes;
Russia has led in the practical development of floating nuclear power stations. On 14 September 2019, Russia’s first-floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, arrived at its permanent location in the Chukotka region.It started operation on 19 December 2019.
Based on the RITM-200 reactors, which are currently operational in new nuclear icebreakers, FPUs with power capacities of 100 MW and 106 MW have been designed. Developed by OKBM Afrikantov, the RITM series represents a unique advancement in reactor technology. The RITM-200 technology, developed by Russia, is a flagship small modular reactor (SMR) technology based on the evolution of Soviet pressurized water reactor technology initially tailored for icebreaker vessels. The reactors in the Russian icebreakers operated with HEU at 35% U2-235. The commercial floating power plants are using commercial grade fuel at less than 5% U-235.
In 2022, the United States Department of Energy funded a three-year research study of offshore floating nuclear power generation. In October 2022, NuScale Power and Canadian company Prodigy announced a joint project to bring a North American small modular reactor based floating plant to market.
Also, in 2022 South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies, a Denmark-based startup focused on nuclear reactor technology, entered into a partnership to develop floating nuclear power plants. The floating nuclear power plants will be based on Seaborg’s Compact Molten Salt Reactor (CMSR). Seaborg initially planned to use HALEU fuel, but due to supply chain issues, switched to LEU fuel at less than 5% U-235.
The agreement includes development of hydrogen production plants and ammonia plants, as the CMSR is said to be an ideal power source for the supply of stable, clean, and safe electricity.
In September 2024 Italian multinational oilfield services company Saipem signed a cooperation agreement with UK-headquartered Newcleo to study offshore applications of Newcleo’s innovative reactor technology. The agreement is aimed at studying the application of Newcleo’s Small Modular Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (SM-LFR) technology to provide zero-emission electricity and process heat to oil and gas offshore installations, thereby improving their sustainability performance.
The agreement also allows for the possibility of extending the use of Newcleo’s technology to produce zero-emission electricity through floating nuclear units, connected to the electricity grid on land or to other users.
Thorcon Power has an agreement with an Indonesian electric utility to develop a 50 MWe prototype of a 500 MWe FNNP. Indonesia is interested in the floating plant, which will be housed in a tethered barge, due to the seismic instability of the many islands within its borders. The barges holding the FNNP would be manufactured by South Korean shipyards.
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Amazon to Invest $334 Million in Advanced Reactors at Columbia Generating Station
- Amazon Agreement Could See Up To 12 Reactors At Columbia Nuclear Site In Washington State
- Retail and tech giant to fund $334 million feasibility phase of SMR project
(NucNet) A $334 million agreement between Amazon and public power company Energy Northwest will fund efforts to develop and deploy up to 12 X-Energy 80 MWe (960 MWe) XE-100 small modular reactors (SMR) at an existing nuclear site in Washington state.
The proposed project, if built, would have the equivalent power of a new full size reactor. The financial advantage of using the SMR approach is that the SMRs can be phased to be built over time as electricity demand increases which spreads out needs for capital expenditures.
Under the agreement with Energy Northwest, Amazon will have the right to purchase electricity from the first project of four modules, which is expected to generate 320 MW of energy capacity. Energy Northwest has the option to further build out the site by adding up to eight additional modules resulting in a total project generating capacity of up to 960 MWe.
Amazon will fund the initial feasibility phase of an SMR project, which is planned to be sited near Energy Northwest’s Columbia nuclear power station in Richland, Washington. Columbia has a single 1,131 MW boiling water reactor unit that began commercial operation in 1984.
Amazon said in October that it was buying a stake in US X-energy, as part of a collaboration with the company that intends to deploy SMRs to provide low-carbon electricity to power its data centers.
Amazon’s agreements follow Google’s recent announcement that it will back the construction of seven small SMRs from Kairos Power, becoming the first tech company to commission new nuclear power plants to provide low-carbon electricity for its energy-hungry data centers.
Google and Kairos said that under the terms of the deal, the first of its kind, Google committed to buying power generated by seven reactors to be built by Kairos Power, a California-based startup.
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GLE Buys Land in Paducah for Laser Enrichment Plant
(WNN) Global Laser Enrichment has acquired the land in Kentucky where it plans to build the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF). The 665 acre parcel of land was previously owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and managed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. It was acquired by Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) through an agreement among the Commonwealth, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and the Paducah-McCracken County Industrial Development Authority. GLE entered into a set of agreements providing it with an option to purchase the plot earlier this year.
GLE is the exclusive global licensee of the SILEX laser-based uranium enrichment technology, which would be deployed commercially at PLEF. The project is supported by a long-term agreement signed in 2016 for the sale to GLE of some 200,000 tonnes from the US Department of Energy’s inventory depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) for re-enrichment to equivalent natural grade uranium hexafluoride. The DOE has a large inventory of the material – also known as tails – from the former operations of its first-generation gaseous diffusion enrichment plants.
The site acquired by GLE is adjacent to the DOE’s former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which closed in 2013. It provides access to the cylinder yard where the DUF6 tails inventories are stored, minimizing transportation between the storage site and the proposed PLEF plant.
How Laser Enrichment Works
This is a Schematic of a stage of an isotope separation plant for uranium enrichment with laser. An infrared laser with a wavelength of approx. 16 μm radiates at a high repetition rate onto a UF6 carrier gas mixture, which flows supersonically out of a nozzle.
The excited component moves away from the axis of the molecular beam faster than the unexcited tailings stream which is separated at a skimmer. Text & Image: Wikipedia
EIS and License Status
GLE said it is currently on track to submit the environmental report for the plant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of 2024 and the license application in the summer of 2025. The company’s CEO Stephen Long said GLE is working towards a commercialization decision “and maintaining our deployment target of no later than 2030.”
The SILEX technology was developed by Australian company Silex Systems Ltd, which owns 51% of GLE, with the remaining 49% owned by Canadian company Cameco.
Silex CEO/Managing Director Michael Goldsworthy said the acquisition of the PLEF site is the result of “several years of dedicated efforts” from the GLE team with “considerable support” from the community of Paducah and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
According to Goldsworthy, the DOE tails inventory will be the source of supply to support production of natural grade uranium hexafluoride at PLEF for up to 30 years. With a production rate that will be “equivalent to a uranium mine with an annual output of up to 5 million pounds of uranium, which would rank in the top 10 of today’s uranium mines by production volume.”
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Pushing Forward with SMRs by Solving their Spent Fuel Issues
DeepGEO and Copenhagen Atomics have signed a collaborative agreement. The companies work together to characterize the radioactive materials and fuel needs of Copenhagen Atomics’ thorium reactors.
This agreement between a multinational repository developer and an advanced reactor designer is a first of a kind for the global nuclear sector especially as it links interim storage of spent nuclear fuel from SMRs based on the thorium fuel cycle.
Copenhagen Atomics is pushing to deliver the first commercial molten salt thorium reactor. The company is focused on a competitive time to market relative other SMRs.
More broadly DeepGEO wants to position itself to assist both advanced reactor and small modular reactor developers in commercializing their technologies. The establishment of multinational interim storage facilities and repositories that can host a variety of waste forms would provide vital flexibility in support of novel nuclear technologies, applications and business models.
Meeting the needs of nuclear fuel recyclers
Copenhagen Atomics’ thorium reactors are expected to consume the transuranic elements in spent nuclear fuel from conventional nuclear reactors, which will significantly reduce the timeline of previously long lived nuclear waste.
To achieve this Copenhagen Atomics intends to separate spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors into four streams: zircaloy, uranium, fission products and transuranics. Its reactor designs can make use of plutonium (a transuranic) to ‘kickstart’ the use of thorium in its reactor.
Copenhagen Thorium Reactor Numbers: Chart: Copenhagen
DeepGEO is committed to providing services related to medium and low level waste management and disposal as Copenhagen Atomics begins testing and demonstration. Initially, the collaboration between the parties is expected to establish a better understanding of the economy and requirements of this process determining what ultimately is waste and what has commercial value.
Important aspects of the collaboration include technology, fuel and waste characterization and the legislation and regulations of handling, transporting and disposing of these materials between countries.
Inviting others
The signed agreement is a first of a kind for the nuclear industry, but is not intended to be a last. The companies welcome interest from other nuclear technology and project developers that are also ready to get serious about their future waste challenges and explore innovative and multinational solutions.
About DeepGEO
DeepGEO is a US-based company with regional teams in Canada, Europe and Africa which is developing multinational repositories for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. With a focus on sustainable resource management and a clean energy future, DeepGEO works with its partners to provide a solution to this environmental challenge while promoting economic healing for under-served communities.
About Copenhagen Atomics
Copenhagen Atomics has invented a new energy technology which is a thorium reactor design with the size of a 40 foot shipping container. The plans to mass manufacture these thorium reactors on assembly lines. When the rules are in place for spent nuclear fuel recycling, then these thorium reactors are able to consume transuranics from multiple sources and global markets.
According to its Pitchbook profile, Copenhagen Atomics was founded in 2014. The privately held firm has about 60 employees. So far the firm has raised $28 million. Key investors are Beyond Earth Technologies, 3 Sverd Invest, Nucleation Capital, and Spectrum Impact.
CEO Quotes
Thomas Jam Pedersen, CEO and co-founder of Copenhagen Atomics, says:
“Copenhagen Atomics reactors are able to burn spent nuclear fuel and get ten times more energy out of it, than when that same fuel is used in a traditional nuclear reactor. Together with DeepGEO, Copenhagen Atomics will explore how we can make international handling of spent nuclear fuel radically more efficient and at the same time handle all waste streams responsibly.”
“This partnership between Copenhagen Atomics and DeepGEO helps enable the conversion of spent nuclear fuel into a valuable resource rather than an expensive liability, which countries and companies have to deal with. Recycling a large share of spent nuclear fuel, this so-called “nuclear waste”, would allow them to sell it for a positive value, further covering the cost of recycling and transport.”
Link Murray, President of DeepGEO, says:
“An innovative nuclear sector needs innovative back-end solutions. We are thrilled to be partnering with Copenhagen Atomics, which is again demonstrating that it is a pioneer in the nuclear sector. Working together we can better understand the value of different fuel and waste needs of advanced nuclear reactors, help to accelerate their deployment and ensure the future sustainability of nuclear energy.”
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