May 21, 2018
A series of prominent speakers at a May 15-16, 2018 Ready4Nuclear workshop with a capacity crowd of key Western U.S. and Canadian suppliers expressed optimism regarding emerging advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMR) deployments at the Idaho National Laboratory and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
The nuclear suppliers workshop was held at the INL Energy Innovation Laboratory’s Meeting Center in conjunction with the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC).
Keynoters included INL Director Dr. Mark Peters; Idaho Director of Commerce Bobbi-Jo Meuleman; Consulate General of Canada/Seattle Trade Commissioner Cheryl Schell; NuScale Power executives; and Chalk River Laboratory officials. Leading U.S. and Canadian supply chain presenters included Curtiss-Wright; AECOM; X-energy; Premier Technology; Vigor Industrial; Energy Steel; Center for Advanced Nuclear Manufacturing; Studsvik Scandpower; Morgan Lewis; Huntington Ingalls Industries; Tri-Cities WA Economic Development Council; Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries; CleanTech Alliance; and a phalanx of top Idaho-based academic and business development organizations. Special presentations focused on the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Export Controls requirements.
Workshop co-sponsors included Regional Economic Development Eastern Idaho; Canadian Nuclear Laboratories; Consulate General of Canada/Seattle; Ontario/Canada Ministry of International Trade; AtoS; Maidana Research; Curtiss-Wright; and Idaho Department of Commerce.
The NRC is expected to certify NuScale Power’s design, and the company’s first customer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, is planning a 12-module SMR plant in Idaho slated for operation by the mid-2020s based on the certified design. In addition, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has issued an invitation to small modular reactor (SMR) project proponents to evaluate the construction and operation of a demonstration SMR project at a site it manages. CNL has set a goal to demonstrate the commercial viability of SMRs and aims to have a new SMR constructed on or more of its sites by 2026.
The USNIC’s Ready4Nuclear initiative provides a platform to facilitate suppliers expanding or establishing supply chain networks in areas where advanced nuclear energy deployment is projected and advanced manufacturing capabilities are available.
The workshop’s agenda topics included: Current and future nuclear energy generation/supplier landscape; What nuclear reactor companies need; Required certifications, capabilities and resources; Becoming an approved vendor; Breaking into the nuclear power plant supply chain; Building a regional supply chain network; Workforce development; NRC and export control regulations; and global export commerce. The workshop featured a Special NuScale Power Program Update and tours of INL’s Human System Simulation Laboratory and High Temperature Test Laboratory.
The USNIC Ready4Nuclear series has sponsored companion supply-chain workshops in St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Oak Ridge. For more information visit www.ready4nuclear.org.
Contact: Caleb Ward (caleb.ward@usnic.org | 202-332-8845)