Progress to Mass Produced Nuclear Microreactors

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced $80 million for the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) funding to demonstrate the Westinghouse eVinci micro nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan. SRC will apply the research and knowledge gained from the licensing and deployment of an initial microreactor to support the Saskatchewan nuclear industry to better understand this type of technology and the potential for future microreactor projects in the province.

Saskatchewan’s nearly $1 billion-a-year uranium industry made Canada the world’s second-largest producer in 2022, according to World Nuclear Association (WNA) data. This puts the province ahead of previous frontrunners including Namibia and Australia. In 2021, Canada ranked third, while Kazakhstan has consistently placed first. In 2021, the Saskatchewan uranium industry employed 1,842 people. In 2023, the industry is currently expected to produce 15 million kilograms of yellowcake, almost double last year’s number. Northern Saskatchewan has the largest high-grade uranium deposits in the world. This region is the source of almost a quarter of the world’s uranium supply for electrical generation. The Saskatchewan uranium deposits are very high grade. Cigar Lake is the world’s highest grade uranium mine, with grades that are 100 times the world average.

NOTE: I was born and few up in Saskatchewan. It was always obvious to me that Saskatchewan needed to support nuclear energy production but for decades anti-business provincial leadership was against it. It would be like Saudi Arabia being against the use of oil. I wrote letters decades ago to encourage the obvious choice for Saskatchewan to develop nuclear power. The Canadian government made and sold Candu nuclear reactors. All Saskatchewan had to do was say yes and they would have gotten 5,000 PHD and engineering jobs by getting a federal nuclear research facility placed into Saskatchewan. This would and will make a huge difference for a small province with just over 1 million people and an economy highly dependent on agriculture.

The eVinciTM microreactor will be built by Westinghouse Electric Company. Subject to licensing and regulatory requirements, it is expected to be operational by 2029. The location of the reactor will be determined as the project progresses through the regulatory processes. The surrounding infrastructure is less than two thirds the size of a hockey rink. The eVinciTM is classified as a microreactor capable of producing five megawatts of electricity, over 13 megawatts of high temperature heat, or operating in combined heat and power mode.

SRC is Canada’s second largest research and technology organization. With nearly 350 employees, $232 million in annual revenue and 76 years of experience, SRC provides services and products to its 1,600 clients in 22 countries around the world. SRC safely operated a SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear research reactor for 38 years before decommissioning it in 2021.

If built by the anticipated timeframe, the eVinci demonstration would become Saskatchewan’s first advanced nuclear reactor. SaskPower, a utility owned by the provincial government, has selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) 300-MW BWRX-300 for its first two potential nuclear units. While SaskPower intends to decide to build the new nuclear units in 2029, it suggests construction of the first small modular reactor (SMR) could begin as early as 2030, with a targeted in-service date of 2034. In August, Canada’s federal government committed CA$74 million to support SaskPower’s potential deployment through two federal mechanisms.

Last year, the Canadian federal government awarded Westinghouse a CA$27.2 million grant from its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to support further development of the eVinci microreactor. The “investment” is aimed at helping to fight climate change and “build on Canada’s global leadership in SMRs,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

Factory Mass Produced Heat Pipes Are Key to Factory Mass Produced eVinci Reactors

Westinghouse’s recent success in manufacturing a 12-foot heat pipe at its Waltz Mill, Pennsylvania, facility (as part of a $9 million federal cost-share project under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program).

The Westinghouse eVinci micro reactor is an innovative design with many attractive safety features based on design simplicity. The unique core design is built around a solid steel monolith with channels for both heat pipes and fuel pellets. Each fuel pin in the core is adjacent to three heat pipes for efficiency and redundancy. Overall, there is a 1-to-2, heat-pipe-to-fuel ratio throughout the core. The large number of in-core heat pipes is intended to increase system reliability and safety. Decay heat also can be removed by the heat pipes with the decay heat exchanger.

The use of heat pipes in nuclear reactors is new and perhaps not as familiar to the commercial nuclear industry, but liquid metal heat pipe technology is mature and robust with a large experimental test database to support implementation of the technology into commercial nuclear applications. The marriage of these three components makes the eVinci micro reactor concept unique and simple.

Use of the heat pipes in a reactor system addresses some of the most difficult reactor safety issues and reliability concerns present in current Generation II and III (and to some extent, Generation IV concepts) commercial nuclear reactors – in particular, loss of primary coolant. Heat pipes operate in a passive mode at relatively low pressures, less than an atmosphere. Each individual heat pipe contains only a small amount of working fluid, which is fully encapsulated in a sealed steel pipe. There is no primary cooling loop, hence no mechanical pumps, valves, or large-diameter primary loop piping typically found in all commercial reactors today. Heat pipes simply transport heat from the in-core evaporator section to the ex-core condenser in continuous isothermal vapor/liquid internal flow. Heat pipes offer a new and unique means to remove heat from a reactor core.

The key benefits of eVinci are attributed to its technology:
Solid Core:
* Encapsulates fuel to significantly reduce proliferation risk
* Enables inherently safe core due to strong negative temperature feedback

Heat Pipes:
* Eliminates the need for reactor coolant pump and all associated auxiliary systems to enable compact packaging and simple design
* Can inherently adjust heat load, thus allowing easier autonomous load following
* Can operate at higher temperatures to enable higher efficient power conversion system and high-grade process heat

Both heat pipes and the solid core together make the eVinci micro reactor a solid state reactor with minimal moving parts, which is key to the reliability and maintenance-free design of a long-life decentralized energy generator.

Dates have slipped from earlier plans but IF this is built and mass produced then it will be a gamechanger for safer and abundant nuclear energy.

The new eVinci “accelerator hub” under construction in the borough of Etna in Pennsylvania will be home to engineering and licensing operations, testing, prototype trials, business development, and sales. It also includes manufacturing space. Courtesy: Westinghouse

Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.

Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.

A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts.  He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.

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