NuScale funds demonstration forging of its reactor vessel head by Sheffield Forgemasters

The central role of key British industrial players in NuScale Power’s ambitions to build a UK-U.S. partnership was underlined today as Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd (SFIL) and NuScale announced they will work together to develop the manufacturing techniques that will be required for the future deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the UK.

SFIL will forge a large civil nuclear reactor vessel head by the end of 2017, as part of a programme supported by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to develop and validate innovative forging and fabrication solutions for the nuclear industry. NuScale Power is providing funding to support the use of the geometries required by its innovative SMR design.

The factory manufacture of major engineered components is central to realising the job and growth potential of SMRs across the UK and to bringing down costs through advanced manufacture techniques.

SFIL has a long history in manufacturing large steel components for heavy engineering and nuclear power applications. It is the UK’s only large forgemaster and a world leader in large scale forged and cast components.

Speaking today at ResPublica’s “Finding True North: Realising the Northern Powerhouse” conference in Manchester, NuScale Power’s Managing Director – UK and Europe, Tom Mundy said:

“Our vision of seeing the NuScale SMR deployed in, and exported from, the UK can and will only be achieved in partnership with Britain’s renowned engineering and industrial base.

“Sheffield Forgemasters’ skill, expertise and heritage is known the world over. Working together now is I hope the starting point of a lasting relationship that will ultimately see UK-manufactured SMRs generating clean reliable power for the UK grid by the 2020s.”

SFIL Chief Executive Graham Honeyman said:

“Small Modular Reactors could revolutionise the civil nuclear power industry, by creating more flexible power generation solutions. The efficient factory manufacture of major components will be crucial to seeing them deployed cost-effectively and Sheffield Forgemasters has an unparalleled track record in the production of civil nuclear forgings of this size.

“NuScale’s design is one of the most advanced in the world and this forging project will allow us to prove yet again that UK manufacturing is at the leading edge of global technological advancement.”

NuScale Power will be holding a Supplier Day at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield on 13 July aimed at giving UK-based engineering, manufacturing and construction companies the opportunity to learn about the company’s programme of work. NuScale is also participating in the UK Government’s competition to choose the best value SMR, aimed at seeing SMRs deployed in the UK in the 2020s.

This builds on activities in the United States where NuScale is at an advanced stage of development compared to its nearest competitors. NuScale is the only SMR developer to be currently receiving U.S. Department of Energy match funding ($217M over 5 years), the only SMR developer to be close to submitting a Design Certification Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (this will happen later this year), and it has multiple active customer deployment projects under way. The first NuScale facility is planned to be in operation in 2024 in the state of Idaho.

Notes for Editors

1. The announcement made today builds on an Innovate UK Energy Catalyst project designed to develop innovative forging and fabrication solutions for the nuclear industry. The project budget is £4 million, running over 2.5 years from June 2015 to Dec 2017. It is led by SFIL and has five contributing partners - Rolls Royce Plc, The Welding Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. NuScale Power will henceforth be an observer in the project and is providing additional funding to support the use of its reactor vessel head geometry for the demonstration forging.
2. Innovate UK is the new name for the Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s innovation agency. Taking a new idea to market is a challenge. Innovate UK funds, supports and connects innovative businesses through a unique mix of people and programmes to accelerate sustainable economic growth. Catalysts are run jointly by Innovate UK and the Research Councils. A Catalyst is a form of research and development funding which focuses on a specific priority area and aims to help take projects from research to as close to commercial viability as possible. The Catalyst model supports projects in priority areas where the UK research base has a leading position and where there is clear commercial potential. Current Catalysts include: Biomedical Catalyst, Agri-tech Catalyst and the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst.
3. NuScale Power, LLC is developing a new kind of nuclear plant; a safer, smaller, scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology, designed with natural safety features; a technology initially developed and tested at Oregon State University. Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR), a global engineering, procurement, and construction company with a 60-year history in commercial nuclear power, is the majority investor in NuScale. As the sole winner of the second round of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) competitively-bid, cost-sharing program to develop nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) technology, NuScale is the only SMR developer currently receiving DOE financial support. NuScale's design offers the benefits of carbon-free nuclear power and reduces the financial commitments and risks associated with the cost of installing large capacity. A nuclear power plant using NuScale's technology is comprised of individual NuScale Power Modules™, each producing 50 megawatts of electricity (gross) with its own factory-built combined containment vessel and reactor vessel, and its own packaged turbine-generator set. A power plant can include as many as 12 NuScale Power Modules to produce as much as 600 MWe, gross (570 net, nominal, after house loads). The reactor coolant system uses simple properties of physics: convection, conduction and gravity, to drive the flow of coolant in the reactor. In the case of a loss of all off-site power to the plant, the NuScale Power Module shuts itself down and self‐cools for an unlimited period of time, with no operator action required, no need for additional water, and no AC nor DC power. NuScale power plants are scalable - additional modules are added as customer demand for electricity increases. NuScale's technology also is ideally suited to supply energy for district heating, desalination, and other applications. NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and has offices in Corvallis, OR; Rockville, MD; Charlotte, NC; Richland, WA; and London, UK.
4. To keep up to date on NuScale Power in the UK follow @NuScale_UK on Twitter.