NRG’s Crane says Large Units are Best

Entrepreneurs believe the future of nuclear power will be captured by versatile, small units that are affordable and scalable.

They are out taking orders and getting ready to clear federal regulatory hurdles.

Utility industry skeptics, however, believe large nuclear plants still represent the best option for spurring a nuclear renaissance in America.

The issue is significant, with a broad retreat from new coal-fired power generation in the utility sector and some worries that we may be tying our energy future to the opening of huge shale gas reserves.

Paul Lorenzini, the chief executive officer of NuScale Power in Oregon, a leading proponent of small-scale nuclear units, said, "The pathway for us is to get a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NuScale plans to file its NRC license application by late next year, and believe it will take three to four years, he said. "We hope to tighten that time line," Lorenzini said.

Meanwhile, he said, "We are having serious discussions with utilities around the country," he said. The first unit could be operations by 2019.

NuScale's vision is to develop 45-megawatt nuclear reactors that would be clustered in groups of 12 - for a total output of up to 540 megawatts, or about half the output of many conventional nuclear power plants now in operation.

"The design is based on existing technologies," Lorenzini said.

Jay Surina, NuScale Power chief financial officer, will speak about the game-changing potential of the small reactor designs at the EnergyBiz Leadership Forum in Washington, Feb. 27 - March 1.

Lorenzini said that the small units  are less expensive than larger units on a dollar per kilowatt basis.

David Crane, chief executive officer of NRG Energy, in an exclusive interview with EnergyBiz said that large nuclear power plants are more economic than the proposed smaller units when you spread out fixed costs associated with engineering and safety procedures.

"Who wants to spend that money and time for 100 megawatts," Crane said. NRG is planning to build two nuclear units in Texas with a combined output of 2,700 megawatts. Crane said that the first nuclear plants to be built have heft price tags of around $10 billion each, but he believes as more big units are built the price will come down.

"The cost of the big ones will come way down," Crane said. "If we do another one we could cut 15 - 20 percent of the cost."

Bill Borchardt, NRC executive director of operations, said his agency has not yet reviewed the proposed small nuclear units.

"None of these designs have been formally submitted to NRC for licensing review, although the vendors for two of the small pressurized water reactor designs are currently engaged in pre-application discussions with the NRC, with design certification applications expected in the 2012-2013 timeframe," Borchardt said. 

"The general description of small, modular nuclear power plants is being applied to a wide range of nuclear power technologies, including small pressurized water reactors, high temperature gas reactors, and a variety of liquid metal and gas cooled fast reactors," Borchardt said.

The future of nuclear, coal, gas and renewable generation will be discussed at the EnergyBiz Leadership Forum in Washington, February 27 - March 1.

 

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