Rolls-Royce SMR is carrying out site visits of the eight locations now in the running to host its first factory for small modular reactors.
In July the company announced six potential locations for the factory, saying the shortlist was selected against a clear set of criteria, picked from more than 100 submissions from local enterprise partnerships and development agencies. They were: Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, Richmond in North Yorkshire, Deeside in Wales, Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, Stallingborough in Lincolnshire and Carlisle in Cumbria.
Two more locations - Shotton, Deeside, in North Wales and Teesworks, Redcar, in north east England - have now been added after the sites met the shortlist criteria for the first of three expected factories in the UK, which will produce the vessels for the 470 MWe pressurised water reactor.
Rolls-Royce SMR's chief operating officer David White is to oversee the construction of the factories which will be needed to construct the planned fleet of SMRs, each capable of generating the same amount of electricity as about 150 onshore wind turbines, and enough to power a million homes.
All the potential sites are to be visited over the next six weeks ahead of the next stage of the site-selection process.
White said: "The overwhelmingly positive response, resulting in more potential sites than we might have hoped for, means we have more information to assess but is vitally important in helping us select the right locations for our factory."
The Rolls-Royce SMR design was accepted for Generic Design Assessment review in March with the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy asking the Office for Nuclear Regulation along with the environment regulators for England and Wales to begin the process.
To minimise the construction phase of the programme, the Rolls-Royce SMR is fully modularised with the reactor, about 16 metres by 4 metres, able to be transported by road, rail or sea. Targeting a 500-day modular build, the firm says this concept minimises the onsite time and effort required to construct and build the plant, with about 90% of manufacturing and assembly activities carried out in factory conditions.
https://www.world-nuclear-news…Royce-SMR-s-UK-factory-sh
Global Nuclear Fuel and TerraPower Announce Natrium Fuel Facility
Global Nuclear Fuel–Americas (GNF-A), a GE-led joint venture, and TerraPower today announced an agreement to build the NatriumTM
Fuel Facility at the site of GNF-A’s existing plant site near
Wilmington. The Natrium Fuel Facility will be jointly funded by
TerraPower and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Advanced
Reactor Demonstration Program, which aims to speed the demonstration of
advanced reactors through cost-shared partnerships with U.S. industry.
The facility represents an investment of more than $200 million.
The Natrium Fuel Facility and other commercial nuclear power initiatives are projected to grow the GNF-A and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) workforce by approximately 500 new employees over five years. Many of these new employees will support the Natrium reactor technology that is being jointly developed by GEH and TerraPower as well as other commercial nuclear power initiatives.
In 2021, TerraPower announced its intention to build the first Natrium reactor at a retiring coal facility in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
“Reinvigorating the domestic nuclear supply chain is a critical step in building the next generation of reactors,” said Tara Neider, TerraPower senior vice president and Natrium project director. “This facility will create a reliable source of fuel for our first demonstration plant and additional Natrium plants in the future. We are pleased to join an industry expert like GNF-A in this effort.”
Construction on the Natrium Fuel Facility is anticipated to begin in 2023 and, once complete, is expected to support up to 100 new, permanent jobs.
https://www.ge.com/news/press-…nce-natrium-fuel-facility
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