The Holtec International SMR Technical Advisory Council (HI-STAC) held its spring meeting on April 18, 2023, at the 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 Technology Campus in Camden NJ. The symposium was attended by representatives from over 50 nuclear units and contractors from around the world including seven CNOs and Team 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023 partners. U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy, Dr. Kathryn Huff gave the keynote address. The symposium was the venue of several 鈥渂reaking news items,鈥� chief among them was the announcement by Ukraine’s SE National Nuclear Energy Generating 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023 鈥淓nergoatom鈥� President, Mr. Petro Kotin, who disclosed Energoatom鈥檚 intention to establish a partnership with 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023 to accelerate the licensing and deployment of twenty (20) SMR-160鈥檚 throughout Ukraine with a focus toward former coal generation sites. The Cooperation Agreement was signed on April 21, 2023 (as previously reported in HH 38.06).
Dr. Huff noted that Mr. Kotin鈥檚 announcement was great news for continued US-Ukraine collaboration in nuclear energy and aligns with DOE鈥檚 work to advance clean and secure energy for the future. Reacting to Mr. Kotin鈥檚 announcement, 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 President and CEO, Dr. Kris Singh, noted the 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 over 20 years of business engagement in Ukraine and vowed to cooperate with Energoatom to complete the SMR-160鈥檚 design and licensing work effort for deployment in Ukraine on an expedited schedule. He saluted the resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of russia鈥檚 barbaric attacks on the nation鈥檚 energy infrastructure and promised to redouble efforts to rebuild the nation鈥檚 power generation capacity premised on clean energy after 鈥渞ussia is expelled from Ukraine鈥檚 territory.鈥� The SMR-160 reactor will be licensed by the highly respected Ukrainian Regulator whose experience includes regulatory oversight of the nation鈥檚 fleet of 15 VVER (russian-origin reactor) units in Ukraine, successful completion of a number of critically important projects such as the 鈥淣ew Safe Confinement Structure鈥� for Chornobyl鈥檚 crippled reactor, commissioning of the Chornobyl Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility [world鈥檚 largest used fuel storage facility at the Chornobyl site] (supplied by 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023) and completion of Ukraine鈥檚 Central Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility for Ukraine鈥檚 operating reactors [Consolidated Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility] (also designed by 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023). Mr. Kotin鈥檚 announcement has triggered the establishment of a SMR-160 Project Office in Kyiv that will be staffed by 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 and Energoatom鈥檚 engineers serving as a precursor to a large technology center akin to 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 facility in Camden, NJ. The Center鈥檚 work to complete SMR-160鈥檚 development will continue as the country acts to rid itself of the russian menace from its land.
Other news extremely favorable to the fortunes of the SMR-160 program came from the 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023 Palisades subsidiary which informed the audience of 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 decision to build two SMR-160 reactor units at the Palisades site to augment the site鈥檚 clean energy generation if the ongoing Palisades re-powering effort is successful.
Another important news came from 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 SMR project team which pertained to the launching of two thermal-hydraulic test facilities that will be constructed at the Idaho National Laboratory later this year. A presentation of the initial results from the probability safety assessments revealed the intuitively evident finding that the SMR-160 plant is several orders of magnitude safer than conventional nuclear power plants even without crediting any operator actions. The robust safety results support the 鈥渨alk-away鈥� safety claim of the SMR-160 design and are expected to provide a compelling justification for regulatory approval of 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 designation of the Controlled area boundary as the Emergency Exclusion Zone.
Virginia鈥檚 Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Ms. Chelsea Jenkins, shared details of Governor Youngkin鈥檚 Energy Plan, asserting that 鈥淕overnor Youngkin鈥檚 all-of-the-above approach makes Virginia an ideal location to become the epicenter for new nuclear and advanced nuclear reactor value chains. Virginia鈥檚 existing nuclear industry assets along with the impressive history of leadership innovation and safely operating nuclear reactors will help to provide reliable, affordable, and clean energy to Virginia鈥檚 families and businesses while meeting the projected energy demand growth.鈥�
The HI-STAC members and other invited guests provided several valuable inputs such as the recommendation to include the flexibility for single-unit or multi-unit arrangements in the initial licensing application. The preemptively Regulator-approved multi-unit arrangements would enable shared systems and structures to be employed to reduce costs and construction time at multi-unit sites, an expressed interest of several attendees. 鈥淭his HI-STAC has provided enormous value to our SMR-160 program. We are in debt to the leaders from the industry and the government who gave us their valuable time to provide their input,鈥� said Tom Marcille, 澳门六合彩开奖结果2023鈥檚 VP in charge of the SMR-160 program.
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