The UK could be a launch pad for an an export industry for SMRs

NuScale Power, which is developing a 50 MW small modular reactor that can be built in factories, will hold a Supplier Day in the UK in Sheffield on July 13.

It will give UK-based nuclear engineering, manufacturing and construction companies the opportunity to meet NuScale representatives and learn about the company’s program of work.  (Contact information listed below)

The event is part of a long-term objective to build NuScale’s UK supply chain in preparation for potential deployment of the firm’s SMR in the UK market and for exports to Europe and the Middle East.

NuScale said in a press statement it is keen to develop lasting relationships with UK-based suppliers, small and large, from straight supply to build-to-print to strategic partnerships.

Potential suppliers are being invited to participate in a day of presentations, workshops and one-to-one meetings designed to inform them of the company’s plans for the UK market and how they can become involved in NuScale’s program.

Nuclear reactor coolant pump. Image courtesy of World Nuclear Org

Speakers will include key members of the NuScale executive team, as well as Fluor Limited, Ultra Electronics and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

The event underlines NuScale’s ambition to work in partnership with UK-based industry as the company continues to expand its presence.

It is also participating in the UK Government’s recently announced competition to choose the best value SMR, aimed at seeing SMRs deployed in the UK in the 2020s.

NuScale Power’s Managing Director for the UK and Europe Tom Mundy said:

“NuScale’s presence in the UK is growing. Our primary investor Fluor has a longstanding involvement and substantial workforce here and our partners, such as Ultra Electronics, also embody the world-renowned quality of the UK’s offering.

“Our ambition is to involve UK-based companies right across the supply chain, and that’s what our Supplier Day is all about.

“Conversations we start in the next few months will lay the groundwork for building up our UK supplier base as we head towards developing a capability to be able to deploy in the UK in the 2020s.”

NuScale added in its press statement that it has spent three years building a presence in the UK. The firm has the objective of having NuScale Power Modules manufactured in the UK, deployed in the UK, and exported across Europe. The firm cited the benefits to the UK in terms of jobs, economic growth, and intellectual property rights.

The firm’s UK work builds on activities in the United States where NuScale is at an advanced stage of development compared to its nearest competitors.

• NuScale is the only SMR developer to be currently receiving U.S. Department of Energy match funding ($217M over 5 years),
• The only SMR developer to be close to submitting a Design Certification Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (this will happen later this year); and,
• The only U.S. SMR developer to have an active customer deployment project. The first NuScale facility is planned to be in operation in 2024 in the state of Idaho.

NuScale’s UK Supplier Day will take place on 13th July 2016 at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, part of the University of Sheffield.

Potential suppliers should contact:

Matthew Dolman
+44 20 7593 4000
uksupplierday2016@nuscalepower.com

UK grants $115 million to boost nuclear training

(WNN) The UK government has announced details of almost £80 million ($115 million) in funding to support the creation of five new National Colleges that it says will support the delivery of major infrastructure projects, including new nuclear.

The centers of high-tech training will “ensure the UK has skilled people in industries crucial to economic growth – high speed rail, nuclear, onshore oil and gas, digital skills and the creative industries,” the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said.

The five centers include a National College for Nuclear, which will have “hubs” in Somerset and Cumbria.

The National College for Digital Skills and the National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries will open in September 2016.

The National College for High Speed Rail, the National College for Onshore Oil and Gas and the National College for Nuclear will open in September 2017.

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