Fermi Energia picks BWRX-300 SMR for Estonia
Estonia’s Fermi Energia has selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor for potential deployment in that European country, GEH announced on February 8.
GEH was one of three reactor design companies that reached the final round of Fermi Energia’s technology selection process. Fermi Energia is a privately held company that was formed to investigate the possibility of employing SMRs in Estonia.
GEH and Fermi Energia have worked together since 2019 when an agreement was reached to collaborate on potential deployment applications for the BWRX-300. The collaboration advanced in 2021 when the two parties entered into a teaming agreement to work together in areas that included licensing support and supply chain development.
Noted: “We are honored that our small modular reactor technology has been selected by Fermi Energia to help Estonia fulfill its energy security and climate goals,” said Jay Wileman, GEH’s president and chief executive officer. “This technology selection further validates the BWRX-300 as the leading SMR solution. By leveraging a unique combination of existing fuel, plant simplifications, proven components, and a design based on an already licensed reactor, the BWRX-300 offers cost-competitive, zero-carbon-emission generation in a meaningful timeframe.”
In case you missed it: Last month, a contract was signed by GEH, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), SNC-Lavalin, and Aecon for the deployment of a BWRX-300 SMR at OPG’s Darlington new nuclear project site in Canada. Also, in August 2022, the Tennessee Valley Authority began planning and preliminary licensing for potential deployment of a BWRX-300 at the Clinch River Site near Oak Ridge, Tenn.
In addition, in June 2022, SaskPower announced that it had selected the BWRX-300 for potential deployment in Saskatchewan, Canada, in the mid-2030s, while in Poland, ORLEN Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) and its partners began the prelicensing process by applying to Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency for assessment of the BWRX-300. OSGE plans to deploy a fleet of BWRX-300s with the potential for deployment of the first of those units by the end of this decade.
To support the global deployment of the BWRX-300, GEH stated that it has memoranda of understanding or other agreements in place with companies in Canada, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. GEH has also begun the design certification process for the BWRX-300 in the U.K.
