Northern Light: Next-Gen Nuclear Reactors arouses interest in Sweden
Ever since December last year, when Canada’s Ontario Power Generation selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to build the first small-scale grid-scale modular nuclear reactor (SMR) and bring it online at the end of the decade, the technology has been in the news. The latest country to be interested in the technology is Sweden.
Kärnfull Next, the first project development company to focus on SMRs in Scandinavia, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with GE Hitachi for its BWRX-300 design. “We have chosen our partners carefully to build a reliable supply chain that enables us to deliver more affordable and fossil-free electricity at the right time during production,” says Kärnfull’s co-founder John Ahlberg.
An SMR is defined as a reactor that produces up to 300 megawatts. The small reactors, which can be put into operation faster than conventional ones and at a lower cost per production unit, produce carbon-free electricity during production.
The BWRX-300 SMR design (artist’s rendering, top) is based on boiling water reactor technologies that power many existing nuclear power plants. “The pieces themselves already exist, they are basically building blocks that have been pre-designed,” says Christer Dahlgren, the main designer of the BWRX-300. “You do not build them in the field. They come to the site that has already been built and pre-tested.”
Jon Ball, Vice President of GE Hitachi, said that Sweden has “significant experience in nuclear energy, and especially boiling water reactor technology. When industry and investors come together to accelerate energy conversion, global interest in the BWRX-300 is growing rapidly and we are pleased to work with Kärnfull to take this technology to Sweden. ”
The technology can not only help Sweden to emit carbon dioxide, but also “deliver inertia and other stability services to the national grid”, according to Kärnfull’s co-founder Christian Sjölander.
Across the Baltic Sea, GE Hitachi technology has attracted interest from operators in Poland and Estonia. Poland’s Synthos Green Energy (SGE) announced plans to collaborate to distribute at least 10 of GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 SMRs in the country in the early 2030s.
In the United States, the Tennessee Valley Authority, a power plant that covers much of the eastern United States, established a new program in January to explore advanced nuclear technology to help it reach its decolorization goals. Its new nuclear power program aims to provide up to $ 200 million to “explore advanced reactor technology options for potential future expansion” at its Clinch River facility in Tennessee and “other potential sites in anticipation of future TVA system needs.” Specifically, TVA is looking at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 design.
Image credit: GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy