In a Memorandum of Understanding, the companies have agreed to enter into a procompetitive collaboration to progress the SMR-160 which SMR, LLC intends to develop, design, license, commercialize, deploy and service globally.
The cooperation will initially include nuclear fuel development supported by GNF and control rod drive mechanisms designed by GEH, and may later extend to other areas.
Holtec president and CEO Kris Singh said: “We are excited to leverage the experience and capabilities of world class nuclear companies like GEH and GNF as we bring our game changing SMR-160 technology to global markets.
“SMR-160 has prioritized safety in its design, to produce a right-sized, passively safe and cost-effective solution for carbon-free energy. This collaboration will ensure the SMR-160 supply chain, to deliver and fabricate critical SMR-160 technologies and components, including at our new Advanced Manufacturing Division in Camden, New Jersey.”
GEH president and CEO Jay Wileman said:"With more than half a century of experience and a solid global track record in the nuclear power business we look forward to providing engineering expertise and technical capability to help advance the development of the SMR-160.
“Our combined strengths allow us to accelerate commercialization of this technology.”
On January 31, SMR, LCC submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy with support from GEH and GNF, among others, in response to funding opportunity announcement DE-FOA-0001817.
The “Integral and Separate Effects Test Program for the Investigation and Validation of Passive Safety System Performance of SMRs” project would yield a uniquely configurable set of testing platforms to demonstrate passive safety system performance, accelerate the SMR-160 and other small modular reactor designs to market and help license these designs with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and international regulators.
GEH and GNF will support phenomena assessments, scaling analyses, safety analysis system code assessment and benchmarking and identification of recommended experimental tests.
GNF CEO Amir Vexler said: “We believe that our experience with boiling water reactor fuel lends itself quite well to the design features of the SMR-160.
“We’ve been manufacturing boiling water reactor fuel at our Wilmington, North Carolina facility for nearly 50 years and we look forward to the possibility of making SMR-160 fuel here too.”
