A cutaway of the BWRX-300 SMR design. (Image: GVH)
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor has completed the second step of the generic design assessment (GDA) process in the United Kingdom. In this step, the U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency, and Natural Resources Wales did not identify “any fundamental safety, security safeguard or environmental protection shortfalls with the design of the BWRX-300.” Step 1 was completed in December 2024.
Significant milestone: “Completing Step 2 of the GDA is a significant regulatory milestone,” said Andy Champ, country leader in the U.K. for GVH. “This is the fastest that any technology provider has completed steps 1 and 2, truly demonstrating the value of our progress in construction in Canada and is another sign that the BWRX-300 continues to advance globally.”
No deployment plans in U.K.: At this time, there are no plans to deploy the BWRX-300 in the United Kingdom, and no sites have been identified for any future deployments. However, the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy opened the GDA process for SMRs and other advanced nuclear technologies in May 2021, and GVH submitted a GDA application for its BWRX-300 in December 2022.
If any plans do emerge to deploy the BWRX-300 in the United Kingdom, regulators will need to undertake an additional detailed design assessment before construction could begin.
Modular construction: The BWRX-300 is a water-cooled boiling water reactor with passive safety systems that can supply 300 MW of electricity to the grid. It is built with advanced modular methods that allow for a construction time of 24–36 months. Its compact configuration can reduce the size of the overall power plant site by about 90 percent and the amount of concrete by about 50 percent, compared with conventional methods of reactor construction. The SMR’s refueling cycle is 12–24 months. The design life of the BWRX-300 is about 60 years.
Four Darlington units: Construction of the first BWRX-300 is currently underway at Ontario Power Generation’s site in Darlington, Ontario, Canada. Four units are planned at this location.
United States and Poland: There are also plans to deploy BWRX-300 SMRs in other countries. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing the Tennessee Valley Authority’s application to construct this country’s first BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In Poland, Orlen Synthos Green Energy is working to deploy the BWRX-300 and is also considering deployments elsewhere in Eastern Europe.
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