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NuScale Power Submits Proposal for DOE's Second Funding Opportunity Announcement
[July 03, 2013]

NuScale Power Submits Proposal for DOE's Second Funding Opportunity Announcement


PORTLAND, Ore. --(Business Wire)--

NuScale Power, LLC, announced today that the company has submitted its application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its second funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for innovative small modular reactors (SMR). With first-of-its-kind passive safety design, years of real-world testing of its technology and almost 100 patents, NuScale is uniquely positioned to qualify for the DOE program. NuScale's application details its plan to achieve U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Certification in a timeframe that would support commercial operation by 2025.

"We believe in our unique SMR technology and we have a remarkable team spanning the technology, supply chain and manufacturing functions that will enable our company to certify, commercialize and deploy our scalable, passively safe SMR to provide cost-effective, low-carbon energy to U.S. homes and businesses," said John Hopkins, NuScale's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are confident in our submission for this FOA and we look forward to the DOE's timely decision."

Since DOE's first FOA decision in late fall of 2012, NuScale has reached several important milestones, including:

  • In mid-April, NuScale reached a major technological breakthrough whereby the NuScale Power Module does not require any electrical power-alternate current (AC) or direct current (DC)-to be able to achieve safe cooldown should the need arise. Additionally, NuScale's technology does not require any on-going operator action nor additional water to achieve safe cooldown.
  • In late June, NuScale announed the launch of the Western Initiative for Nuclear (WIN) which is a broad, multi-western state collaboration to study the demonstration and deployment of a multi-module NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) plant. The WIN project is supported by several Western U.S. governors and two utilities - Energy Northwest and Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems.



NuScale was the first U.S.-based SMR vendor to engage with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) when it was issued an NRC project number (0767) in April 2008 and has been engaged with NRC in ongoing pre-application discussions since then.

Over the course of the last five years, the company has developed unique and proprietary break-through technology for a safe, innovative, simple, economic and scalable small modular reactor. Using proven light water reactor (LWR) technology, the NuScale Power Module is cooled by natural circulation, is entirely self-contained, and installed underwater and underground to maximize safety.


The NuScale design also includes factory-fabricated modules, including containment, and is fully transportable by truck or rail ready to "plug-and-play" upon arrival. The design takes advantage of the "economies of small," enhancing potential market acceptance through improved safety, efficient operation and attractive economics.

NuScale Power, which is majority-owned by Fortune #110 engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance leader, Fluor Corporation, is a 100-percent owned and operated, U.S.-based company established solely for the deployment and commercialization of its SMR technology.

About NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale Power, LLC is developing an inherently safe, modular, scalable commercial nuclear power technology. 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. NuScale's design offers the benefits of carbon-free nuclear power but takes away the issues presented by the cost of installing large capacity. A nuclear power plant using NuScale's technology is comprised of individual nuclear power modules; each produces 45 megawatts of electricity with its own combined containment vessel and reactor system, and its own designated turbine-generator set. A power plant can include as many as 12 NuScale integral PWR modules to produce as much as 540 megawatts. The reactors are cooled by the natural convection of water and can be shut down safely without pumps or other mechanical systems. 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. For more information, visit: www.nuscalepower.com.


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