NuScale submits second SDA application to NRC

The Portland, Ore.–based firm’s original 50-MWe module design, based on a 12-module VOYGR plant, became the first SMR design to receive NRC approval when, in August 2020, the agency announced it had issued a final safety evaluation report on the technology, completing the technical review and approval process. (The NuScale Power Module remains the only SMR design approved by the commission.)

Two years later, in July 2022, the NRC voted unanimously to approve the design certification of the 50-MWe module, making it just the seventh reactor design to be thus certified. Previous designs passing NRC certification muster include General Electric’s Advanced Boiling Water Reactor; Westinghouse Electric’s System 80+, AP600, and AP1000; GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor; and Korea Electric Power Corporation’s APR1400.

According to NuScale’s announcement, the updated design features the same fundamental safety case and passive safety features approved by the NRC in 2020, with a power uprate and select design changes to support customers’ capacity needs and further improve economics.

All parts of the application were submitted to the NRC on January 1, including the entire final safety analysis report (FSAR) and all technical reports, which are incorporated by reference into the FSAR, NuScale said. Three additional licensing topical reports that serve as references to the FSAR, but are not incorporated by reference, are expected to be submitted in the coming days, the company added.

C-suite statement: “On our journey to change the power that changes the world, NuScale has reached another critical regulatory milestone with the NRC,” said John Hopkins, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “Customers already appreciate that our SMR is unmatched in reliability and safety. Today’s announcement solidifies our technological superiority and does so within our previously stated commercialization timeline.”