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NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Fahmy M. Hussein, Mohamed A. Obeid, Khalid S. El-Malahy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 79 | Number 3 | December 1987 | Pages 311-321
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A34020
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Selecting a nuclear power plant site for power production and water desalination is a very complex problem, especially in countries with moderate technology. Many interrelated factors affect the process, and professional judgments by various experts are involved. Four sites, all located on the West Coast of Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea, were chosen as potential sites for building such a plant. (All sites were in either the northern or southern section of the coast; the central part was excluded for pilgrims’ safety.) The East Coast was completely eliminated in the initial screening process due to its strategic location, the existence of oil fields and refineries, and its proximity to other Arabian (Persian) Gulf countries (to minimize radioactive releases to these countries in case of an accident). A computer code based on Saaty’s eigenvalue technique and developed in a previous study was used in this analysis. Twenty-one main criteria were considered, and the sites were ranked to determine which was most desirable. Site 4 was found to be most suitable, followed by site 3.