Westinghouse presents small modular nuclear reactor

2023-05-09 08:00:00

American company Westinghouse unveiled plans Thursday for a small modular reactor to generate virtually emission-free electricity that could replace coal plants or water desalination and other industries. Rita Baranwal, chief technology officer at Westinghouse Electricity Co, said the reactor, named AP300 for its planned 300-megawatt capacity, will not use special fuels or liquid metal coolants unlike other next-generation reactors. It will be a smaller version of its AP1000 reactor, several of which are operating in China, and ramping up in Georgia at the Vogtle plant, after years of delay and billions of dollars over budget.

Despite the obstacles to new nuclear power, Baranwal was confident. “We kept it simple, we designed it with licensed, proven technology, and I think that’s one of the advantages we have with this concept,” he told Reuters in an interview. Westinghouse, owned by Brookfield Business Partners, plans to break ground on the reactor by 2030 and bring it online by 2033. So far, the single SMR design, planned by NuScale Power, has been approved by US regulators and still needs permits.

Westinghouse did not disclose how much the first reactor would cost, but said later units would cost around $1 billion. The western Pennsylvania-based company has been in informal discussions with parties in neighboring Ohio and West Virginia about possible AP300 construction at former coal plants. Westinghouse also hopes to sell reactors to eastern European countries, although critics of nuclear power have raised concerns that developers and governments should think carefully before building new nuclear plants anywhere near the region. They noted that Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the site of repeated bombings.