NuScale and UAMPS agreements progress plans for SMR plant

NuScale Chairman and CEO John Hopkins said: "This is the first step in a prudent deployment plan."

The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) will be a 720 MWe NuScale power plant, comprising up to 12 NuScale Power Modules, to be located at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) INL site. The latest orders are the result of recently signed agreements to manage and de-risk the project. They include the Development Cost Reimbursement Agreement between UAMPS and NuScale, and the USD1.355 billion multi-year Financial Assistance Award from the DOE to CFPP LLC, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UAMPS.

UAMPS and Fluor Corporation have signed a cost-reimbursable development agreement to provide estimating, development, design and engineering services to develop the site-specific cost estimates for deployment of the NuScale technology at the INL site. UAMPS will continue to evaluate the size of the power plant as Fluor refines the engineering of alternatives to ensure that the plant is the best overall cost of energy and size to meet the needs of the project's participants, NuScale said.

UAMPS CEO and General Manager Doug Hunter said. "We are confident that NuScale's small modular reactor will deliver affordable, stable, carbon-free energy to participating members, complementing and enabling large amounts of renewable energy in the region."

NuScale's SMR received approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in August 2020, the first SMR do so. NuScale and UAMPS expect the initial orders will address the final step in the regulatory process to proceed with plans to build the plant, for which they expect to submit a Combined License Application (COLA) to the NRC by the second quarter of 2023. NuScale expects the NRC to complete its review of the COLA by the second-half of 2025, with nuclear construction beginning shortly thereafter.