Holtec's SMR-300 test facility taking shape at INL

Holtec says that fabrication of key test components and preparations for facility installation are under way.

The facility at Idaho National Laboratory, supported by the US Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, "will serve to probe the SMR-300 design margin under both steady state and transient conditions to provide a physical corroboration of the plant's generation capacity, resilience, and operability".

It says that "with a conservative design approach for the initial licensing at Holtec's Pioneer 1&2 project in Michigan, Holtec expects test data to be used to support future power uprates of the SMR-300 plant by taking advantage of large design margins that can be credited to increase power output through a future licence amendment".

According to INL's Piyush Sabharwall, writing on Linkedin, "the facility features two cutting-edge test loops engineered to replicate real-world accident scenarios and investigate novel steam generator behavior, generating high-fidelity thermal hydraulic data at prototypic temperature and pressure ... the project is on track for system dedication in 2027 and testing thereafter".

Holtec has been developing its SMR unit since 2011. The SMR-300 is a pressurised water reactor producing about 300 MW of electrical power or 1050 MW of thermal power for process applications. It plans to deploy two of the SMRs - named Pioneer 1 and 2 - at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station site in Michigan in the USA in a joint venture with Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The Pioneer reactors are planned to be brought online in the early 2030s.

Holtec's US construction permit application is under review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with pre-construction work taking place at the site.