Supplying Reactor Modules for Nuclear Power Project in U.S.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has been steadily landing orders for nuclear power plants from overseas countries despite the Korean government’s ill-advised nuclear phase-out policy.
The company announced on April 30 that it has signed an MOU with NuScale Power, a U.S. nuclear power company, to cooperate in small modular reactor (SMR) projects in the United States. A signing ceremony was held at Washington, D.C. on April 29 (local time) with the attendance of Na Ki-yong, head of the Nuclear Power Plant BG at Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, and John L. Hopkins, CEO of NuScale Power.
NuScale Power is a leader in small nuclear power plants and is developing SMRs under the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The company plans to supply an SMR to the first small nuclear power plant project in the United States to be implemented by UAMPS, a local power generation company. The plant’s commercial operation is scheduled to begin in 2026.
NuScale Power's SMR is an integrated unit with all the core equipment of a nuclear power plant, including a nuclear reactor vessel, a steam generator, a pressurizer and main pipes, put together in one reactor body 4.5 meters wide and 23 meters tall. This reactor body is designed to fit into a containment shell so no separate containment structure is required.
Each module can generate 60 MW of electric power. UAMPS will build a 720 MW nuclear power plant with 12 such modules.
This nuclear plant will be cooled off by naturally circulating water without coolant pumps. In addition, industry experts say that Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction significantly enhanced the safety of its SMRs for the project as the SMRs will be cooled off by underground water tanks if an accident cuts off cooling water supply.
With the signing of this MOU, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will review the design and production of NuScale Power’s SMRs and supply reactor modules which are the core part of the UAMPS nuclear power plant project. This module is the core facility of an SMR that corresponds to the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) that generates steam with nuclear fuel.
Furthermore, the two companies plan to expand business cooperation in overseas markets interested in SMRs such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as areas in the United States such as Idaho, Washington and Wyoming.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction supplied 32 reactors and 114 steam generators at home and in foreign countries such as China, the United Sates and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) including main units for Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in the United States.