B&W And Bechtel Form Small Modular Reactor Partnership
Written by NucNet
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Energy (B&W) and Bechtel Power Corporation have agreed a formal alliance to design, licence and deploy the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear reactor unit.
In a joint statement the two companies said the first such unit could be deployed as early as 2020.
The new alliance, to be known as Generation mPower, will use B&W’s mPower small modular reactor (SMR) technology.
Bechtel said the mPower 125-megawatt SMR would be “a more practical clean energy option for power generation”.
Jack Futcher, president of Bechtel’s power business, said the formation of Generation mPower is “a turning point” in the nuclear power plant industry.
“This alliance intends to advance the development and deployment of nuclear power in a way that makes nuclear power more accessible to utilities and more affordable to consumers,” he said.
The mPower unit is an air-cooled passively safe advanced light water reactor with a below-ground containment structure.
According to B&W the unit represents “true Generation III++ nuclear technology that B&W believes can be certified, manufactured and operated within today’s existing US regulatory, industrial supply chain and utility operational infrastructure”.
Under the new alliance B&W will focus on designing and testing the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) and nuclear island, including the design certification application development and submission, and NSSS production. Bechtel will complement this work with engineering and project management.
