Engineers at NuScale Power now have a more realistic picture of what it would be like to operate a small modular reactor, following the completion of a simulated control room.In a release, NuScale said the recently commissioned simulator is the first of its kind for SMRs and allows operators to study the potential operation of different designs. It features 12 work stations that each simulate an SMR module and its turbine generator.“NuScale established the first operational test facility, the first regulatory interactions, the first customer advisory board, and now the first full-scale control room simulator,” NuScale CEO Paul Lorenzini said in a release.The simulator is the latest step in more than a decade of work developing a design aimed at approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has never licensed an SMR. NuScale is also running simulations on a functional 1/3 scale model of its 45-megawatt reactor at Oregon State University that uses grid power to simulate the heat from fission. In all, more than 200 people are working on the project.As with other companies developing SMR concepts, NuScale is pursuing funding recently made available through the Department of Energy to help move SMR technology forward. DOE is considering a proposal from NuScale for $226 million in matching funds for costs associated with achieving an NRC license. In April the company reached agreements with South Carolina economic development agency NuHub and SCANA to potentially deploy NuScale units at the Savannah River Site.