New advanced reactor fuel facility for expanding GEH site
24 October 2022
Share Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas (GNF-A) and TerraPower are to build the Natrium Fuel Facility at GNF-A's existing site in North Carolina. The facility is part of a major expansion to GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's (GEH) Wilmington operations that will also support commercial deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR). A groundbreaking ceremony for the Natrium fuel facility took place alongside the announcement. Construction will begin next year (Image: GEH)
The Natrium Fuel Facility will be jointly funded by TerraPower and the US Department of Energy through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The facility "represents an investment of more than USD200 million," according to GE. Construction of the fuel facility, which will use high-assay low enriched uranium, is expected to begin in 2023.
TerraPower last year announced the site of a retiring coal plant near Kemmerer in Wyoming for its Natrium advanced reactor demonstration project. The demonstration plant will feature a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system.
The new facility will will help establish the fuel supply chain that will be required for the deployment of advanced reactors in the USA and globally, Tammy Orr, GNF-A's senior vice president, fuel products, said. "This is a significant investment in our operation, and we're excited to build on our more than 50-year legacy as a fuel manufacturer in support of carbon-free energy generation."
"Reinvigorating the domestic nuclear supply chain is a critical step in building the next generation of reactors," said Tara Neider, TerraPower senior vice president and Natrium project director. "This facility will create a reliable source of fuel for our first demonstration plant and additional Natrium plants in the future." Wilmington expansion
Once complete, the Natrium Fuel Facility is expected to support up to 100 new, permanent jobs. These jobs are part of newly announced plans from GEH to grow its workforce by 500 over the next five years to support the advanced nuclear growth, including deployment of the BWRX-300. The 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR has already been selected by Ontario Power Generation for the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Canada, and the Tennessee Valley Authority is working with GEH towards the potential deployment of a unit at Clinch River in Tennessee. The reactor has also been selected or is being considered for potential deployment in Saskatchewan, Canada and in Poland.
"We are proud to have hired more than 250 people this year to be part of the team that is advancing the deployment of our carbon-free energy generation technologies," GEH President and CEO Jay Wileman said. "These new, high-paying jobs, will position us to lead the nuclear energy industry into the future, help customers meet climate goals and have a significant impact on the region's economy."
Researched and written by World Nuclear News
U.S. group TerraPower is confident its first Natrium advanced nuclear reactor will be built by 2030 with construction plans and licensing running smoothly, but fuel supply remains a concern, the company said.
May 9 - Founded by Bill Gates, TerraPower submitted the construction permit application for its Natrium advanced reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
, opens new tab (NRC) in March and is well on its way to deploy the first-of-a-kind reactor by 2030.
Natrium is a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage system and was originally projected
, opens new tab to begin generating power in 2028. The deadline was moved after Russia, the only commercial source of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Fuel supply remains TerraPower’s main concern for the first plant, on which the company expects to begin non-nuclear-related construction in June, Director of External Affairs at TerraPower Jeff Navin says.
Navin, who oversees TerraPower’s government affairs, public policy, communications, and stakeholder engagement efforts, said the supply of HALEU was considered the greatest uncertainty when planning for deployment.
“We still think 2030 is our best bet as to when we can get things completed, but I can't tell you today that I can account for every kilogram of HALEU that we will need, where it will come from, and when we'll have it, so that that is certainly something that still keeps us up at night,” Navin says.
TerraPower was one of two winners of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Project (ARDP) which aims to help private industry test license, build, and demonstrate a fully functional advanced nuclear reactor within seven years.
TerraPower’s Natrium and X-energy’s Xe-100 each received $80 million in initial funding and help from the National Reactor Innovation Center as part of the program.
The two ARDP winners are together expected to need around 20 tons of HALEU to start their demonstration plants, due to start at around the same time. More will be needed within 12 to 18 months to refuel the plants. Production plans
Plans for domestically produced fuel have been put into action, including a two-phase project to produce 900 kg of HALEU a year by the nuclear fuel and services company Centrus , opens new tab.
In November, the company delivered 20 kg of fuel to the U.S. government as part of phase 1 and has moved to phase 2 via an evenly-split cost sharing plan with the DOE worth $60 million.
In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act
, opens new tab (IRA) set aside some $700 million for the nuclear industry, with $500 million of that for HALEU production, $100 million to start a HALEU transportation system, and another $100 million for research, development, demonstration, and commercial use.
However, there have been delays.
“We're coming up on two years since the first $700 million of that was appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act, and the program still hasn't released a single dollar. So, we are watching that very closely,” says Navin.
The government is aware of the potential bottleneck, he says.
“We feel very confident that there will be multiple enrichers making HALEU in the United States in the future. The question is how quickly they will be put in place for us to meet our initial core load for our first reactor. We just need more centrifuges spinning as quickly as possible to increase the amount of HALEU that's commercially available.” Regulatory hurdles
TerraPower was the first advanced nuclear company to submit its construction permit application to the NRC when it passed a more-than 3,300-page file to the regulator in late March.
The application comes after hundreds of meetings and conversations with the NRC
, opens new tab and, Navin says, the regulator has shown itself to be thoughtful, curious, and aligned toward moving forward with the process rather than trying to slow things down.
“So far, we've been very impressed with the way that the NRC has approached this and we're very confident that we will be able to get, working with them, a completed license within 30 to 36 months,” he says. For exclusive nuclear insights, sign up to our newsletter. , opens new tab
The company’s confidence that it is approaching the final straight in the race to deployment is largely shared by analysts watching the demonstration program.
The advanced reactors that form the ARDP are prompting a lot of excitement for their versatility and applications, says Senior Policy Advisor on Climate and Energy Program at think tank Third Way Ryan Norman.
“They have reason to be bullish and I think there's a lot of strong stakeholders on their side wanting to move this project forward,” says Norman.
“The fact that they feel confident enough to get the ball moving and the fact that the NRC has given them the all clear to submit that license application are great signs, especially for first-of-a-kind, non-light water technology.” CHART: Evolution of nuclear power generation by region, 1972-2026
Note: The 2026 forecast is based on projects currently under construction and expected to be operational by the end of the period. Source: International Energy Agency Electricity 2024: Analysis and Forecast to 2026. Purchase Licensing Rights
, opens new tab Replacing coal
In August 2023, TerraPower bought land in Kemmerer, Wyoming where the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project would be built.
Kemmerer is a small town of just over 2,000 people and home to the Naughton coal-fired power
, opens new tab station which is scheduled to close in 2025.
TerraPower, which expects to employ around 1,600 people for the construction phase of the Natrium plant, hopes to hire
, opens new tab from the local population both for the initial phases and for the just over 200 workers it will need to run the plant once it is built.
“When we looked at where we wanted to cite this first reactor, the availability of half of our workforce that's trained and experienced and knows how to do this work was a really big draw,” says Navin.
The coal mine’s transmission infrastructure and access to water were also major attractions, he says.
The company signed in 2022 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the utility PacifiCorp to examine five other coal plants slated for retirement in the region for potential Natrium deployment.
The foundation of the Kemmerer demonstration provides a workforce and supply chain that will make each successive project easier and cheaper.
“The same crew that would pour the concrete here, or put the steel on the ground here, could drive down the road and do it again, and then do it again. The third or fourth or fifth time you do something, you have taken those learnings from the first time you did it and you can do a better job the next time,” says Navin.
The need to replace coal operations with a non-greenhouse-gas emitting alternative, or power an always-on data center, is a perfect fit for a small reactor like Natrium and, rather than seeking the substantial financial backing for a gigawatt-plant, the versatility of an SMR could help kickstart a new era of nuclear power.
Across-the-aisle government commitment to help establish the first units has been key.
“The ARDP was created not just to help build two nuclear power plants, but to really restart this industry and have the United States reap all the benefits of that domestic industry being robust again,” says Navin
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Natrium fuel facility took place alongside the announcement. Construction will begin next year (Image: GEH)
(20min delay)
