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.