Columbia Regional Business Report
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Staff Report
Westinghouse Electric Co. said today it has begun fabrication of small modular reactor prototype fuel assemblies for testing at its Columbia facility.
The prototype work is the next step in the production of fuel for the Westinghouse SMR, a 225-megawatt integral pressurized water reactor, which the Pittsburgh-based company proposes to develop at Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center.
Design work on the SMR fuel assembly began in 2011 and is based on the Westinghouse’s fuel assembly technology, which will be used in eight Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant units under construction in China, Georgia and South Carolina.
Two of those AP1000 units are at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, about 28 miles northwest of Columbia. The power plant is owned by South Carolina Electric & Gas and Santee Cooper.
Work on the SMR fuel design in Columbia will include full-scale testing of assemblies and simulated reactor operation.
Production of test assemblies will allow evaluation of the manufacturing capability for SMR fuel and identify areas for improvement, Westinghouse said.
Technical reviews of the overall design and the hydraulic testing plan already have been performed as part of the development process.
Information gathered from the testing will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for design certification.
Westinghouse was one of four companies that sought a grant from the federal government to develop SMR designs.
In November 2012, the U.S. Energy Department announced Charlotte-based Babcock & Wilcox won the first award to design, license and help develop a commercial SMR in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Bechtel International.
However, the Energy Department said it plans to issue a follow-on solicitation open to other companies and manufacturers, focused on furthering SMR efficiency, operations and design.
Two other companies competing for the federal money — NuScale Power and Holtec International — have signed agreements to build an SMR at the Savannah River Site in Aiken County.
The Energy Department defines SMRs as units that generate less than 300 megawatts.
Fuel manufactured at the Westinghouse fuel fabrication facility in Columbia is used in half of the U.S. nuclear plants and provides approximately 10% of all U.S. electricity production, the company said.