Holtec International is pleased to announce it has reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation’s U.S. subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc. to design and engineer the digital instrumentation and control systems (I&C) for its SMR-160 small modular reactor. The two companies have been working to develop preliminary designs for the SMR-160 I&C systems under an initial agreement signed a few years ago.
Holtec will employ Mitsubishi Electric’s MELTAC© Digital I&C Platform, which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved for use in nuclear plants and nuclear safety applications and meets Holtec’s strict demands of precision and excellence. Mitsubishi’s MELTAC© Digital I&C Platform will assist in Holtec’s objective to ensure that SMR-160 maintains its technological superiority amongst advanced reactors being developed.
The SMR-160 is a light-water based pressurized small modular reactor, which generates 160 MWe (525 MWth). Inherent safety and simplicity have been the core design objectives of the SMR-160 resulting in this modern system for power generation that provides safety and security of the public and the environment during postulated design basis accidents, under extreme environmental phenomena, or adverse human activity, with capital and operating costs greatly improved relative to the current generation of commercial nuclear power plants.
Holtec has initiated the licensing process for the SMR-160 with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Deployment of the first SMR-160 in the United States will unlock the international export market, where clients generally require a reference plant in the supplier’s home country before placing their own orders. Additionally, the “first-mover” states stand to benefit the most in terms of economic development, considering the investment and supply chain development in executing the first SMR-160 project.
Pending local and state support in consideration of the state’s ambitious goal to have 100 percent carbon-neutral electricity generation by 2050 as outlined in the New Jersey Energy Master Plan, Holtec is actively exploring the possibility of deploying the first SMR-160 at the Oyster Creek decommissioning site in New Jersey and at two states in the south of the country with rapidly growing regional demand for carbon-free energy.
Recognizing its safety features and commercial viability, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the SMR-160 Program an Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) grant valued at $147.5 million (DOE share is $116 million with Holtec’s investment share being $31.5 million) in 2020.
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