We are pleased to announce that SMR, LLC has been selected to receive support from the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) for continued development of the SMR-160. On June 26, 2017, SMR, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Holtec International, was awarded a $500,000 GAIN Nuclear Energy voucher. The voucher will be redeemed for access to expertise and capabilities at a national laboratory, accelerating the innovation of the Company’s small modular reactor.
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) established the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) to provide the US nuclear community with technical, regulatory and financial support, directed towards commercializing innovative nuclear energy technologies, while ensuring the continued safe, reliable and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet. Through GAIN, DOE is making its state-of-the-art and continuously improving research, development and demonstration infrastructure available to stakeholders to achieve faster and more cost-effective development of innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercial readiness.
Over the next year, SMR, LLC will work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop an SMR‑160 natural-circulation primary flow simulation engine to perform a series of thermal-hydraulic stability analyses and simulations. SMR, LLC and ORNL will collaborate on these activities and later transition the simulation tools developed to SMR, LLC offices at the Holtec Technology Campus in Camden, NJ. SMR, LLC expects the products of this award will support a key element of the plant licensing specification and future testing activities, helping pave the way toward plant deployment.
SMR, LLC Program Manager Rick Trotta looks forward to accessing the “extensive nuclear research capabilities” offered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He adds, “We believe our technology presents an innovative, achievable, and practical embodiment of small modular reactor technology, which is directly aligned with the objectives of the GAIN program.”