Pilot Natrium reactor plant to be built in U.S. state of Wyoming

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, June 4, 2021
Adjust font size:

LOS ANGELES, June 3 (Xinhua) -- After plans to construct a Natrium reactor demonstration project at a retiring coal plant in the U.S. state of Wyoming were announced, scientists on Thursday expressed their hope that the advancing technology would make nuclear power plants "more like products and less like projects" in the future.

The new type of nuclear power plant project was announced Wednesday by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, Washington-headquartered nuclear innovation company TerraPower and Oregon-headquartered electric power company PacifiCorp.

The Natrium concept was launched by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) in September 2020. This company and PacifiCorp are both reported as subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a holding company that is 90 percent owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

The partners, who hope to commercialize the technology by the end of this decade, expect to announce the selected site by the end of 2021, the World Nuclear News website reported Thursday.

"The companies are evaluating several potential locations in the state for the plant, which will feature a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system that can boost the system's output to 500 MWe for more than five-and-a-half hours when needed," the report said.

Jacopo Buongiorno, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was quoted by the local Casper Star Tribune newspaper as saying that the new plant would consist of one Natrium reactor, which is a small modular reactor (SMR), as opposed to the typical larger reactor.

It will be the first Natrium reactor and one of the first SMRs in the country and the world, Buongiorno said, calling the plant "one of the first pioneering groundbreaking projects in small modular reactors."

The Wyoming's new reactor was scheduled to begin generating electricity in mid-2028. It is estimated that the project would involve two to three years of design and licensing work before construction begins.

According to the World Nuclear News, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), awarded TerraPower 80 million U.S. dollars last October in initial funding to demonstrate the Natrium technology.

"To date, Congress has appropriated 160 million U.S. dollars for the ARDP and DOE has committed additional funding in the coming years, subject to appropriations." the report said. Enditem

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter