Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

Fluor offers nuclear project services for small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power technology development projects, drawing on 75 years of nuclear industry experience. Fluor’s extensive nuclear experience spans the design and construction support for more than 25 nuclear plants and nearly 100 million hours of nuclear operations and maintenance work.

Carbon-free clean energy SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with an electrical output of less than 300 megawatt electrical (MWe) per module. They provide significant benefits in safety, reliability, and scalability over traditional nuclear power plants. SMRs have advantages in cost and schedule certainty, and are suitable for situations where larger reactors may not be practical.

North America’s First Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Project

Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), a public power consortium, recently awarded Fluor a development agreement for estimating, development, design and engineering services for UAMP’s carbon-free power project (CFPP).

CFPP will deploy NuScale Power Modules™ at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site, to provide carbon-free power for UAMPS member utilities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided UAMPS a funding award to aid in the development of NuScale’s first small modular nuclear reactor project in the U.S., intended to de-risk and accelerate commercial deployment schedules in order to meet critical U.S. energy, environment and economic goals.

SMR Innovative Design and Dependable Implementation

NuScale’s SMR became the first and only design to receive U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) design approval in August 2020.

The entirely factory-fabricated NuScale Power Module is capable of generating 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe) using a safer, smaller, scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology.

NuScale offers an array of power plant solutions to meet diverse energy needs - from its flagship 12-module 924 MWe (gross) power plant to a 6-module (462 MWe) plant and a 4-module (308 MWe) plant.

NuScale SMR Benefits

Safe - NuScale's passive safety systems, using natural circulation for emergency feedwater cooling, eliminate the need for external emergency power. Modules are submerged in a below-grade water pool in a seismic category 1 building, making them resilient to a suite of natural events including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and floods.

Modular - Factory fabrication of modular components at U.S. and international facilities helps lower costs, reducing lead times, and providing flexibility for changing demand volumes.

Scalable - Modules can be added to a plant incrementally, offering the benefits of carbon-free energy and reducing the financial commitments associated with gigawatt-sized nuclear facilities. NuScale currently offers its 924 MWe flagship 12-module power plant, 308 MWe 4-module plant, and 462 MWe 6-module plant, though other configurations are possible.

Reliable - Under a micro-grid arrangement, a 924 MWe NuScale power plant can provide 154 MWe of highly reliable power at 99.95% reliability to mission critical infrastructure without the need for a more expensive backup battery or diesel-fueled power supplies, and can provide 770 MWe of high capacity, reliable baseload generation at over 95%.

Off-the-Shelf Technologies - The design minimizes the need for additional research and development. The SMR consists of an integral nuclear steam supply system in which the reactor core, the steam generators, and the pressurizer are all contained in a single vessel. The simple design eliminates reactor coolant pumps, large bore piping and other systems and components found in large conventional reactors.

Small Electric Grid Application - NuScale's range of power plant solutions can meet diverse needs and geographic areas, including small grids, island installations, remote off-grid communities, and the retirement of coal power plant sites.

Learn more about NuScale.