Interested in small modular reactors? You can watch a briefing on the technology before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission via webcast during its next meeting.
The presentation is scheduled for 9 a.m., March 29, during the commission’s regular meeting at the agency’s Rockville, Md., headquarters. Like most NRC proceedings, it will be webcast live at the NRC website.
SMRs produce a fraction of the power found in the 1,000 megawatt-plus reactors commonly found at American nuclear plants. Instead, SMRs are designed to be faster to build and cheaper to install and license, with more parts manufactured off site. Several companies have proposed SMR designs recently, and the Obama administration’s proposed 2012 budget would set aside money specifically to research them.
The NRC’s Committee on Reactor Safeguards also will hear a briefing on SMRs at its meeting next week. Also of note on the rector safeguard committee’s March 10 to March 12 agenda will be an uprate application for NextEra Energy’s unit 1 and unit 2 reactors at Point Beach, Wisc. According to the NRC website, each reactor could produce 17 percent more energy, about 260 megawatts, if the license change is granted.
- Read the meeting announcements in the Federal Register
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