NuScale Power announced Tuesday it has submitted an application for a pre-licensing vendor design review in Canada for its small nuclear reactor.
The application submitted to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is the first review request for the U.S. company in Canada. "This submission reflects the substantive work that NuScale continues to accomplish in the regulatory field as the company is simultaneously bringing the U.S.’s first NuScale power plant into production and operation by 2026," the company said. (NuScale's SMR review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission completed the fourth phase of a six-step review process in December.)
“Interest in building NuScale plants in Canada continues to grow. This pre-licensing process allows our design to be reviewed by another highly respected regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and we look forward to their thorough evaluation of our innovative safety features,” said NuScale Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins.
NuScale said it developed the VDR submission to the CNSC to allow customers to maximize increased efficiencies for technical reviews when later seeking to submit a construction license application.
Currently, NuScale’s technology is the only SMR design to undergo certification review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Completion of Phase 4, announced December 12, indicates near-completion of the technical review, and the entire review of NuScale’s design is in Phases 5 and 6.
NuScale’s VDR in Canada will be completed in four submittals. NuScale’s submission is a combined Phase 1 and 2 level VDR, as the company’s SMR design is mature and can directly enter VDR Phase 2. The remaining three submittals will be conducted at approximately six-month intervals.
Submittal 1 addresses four of the 19 topic areas of the VDR. These four topics were chosen because they provide the foundation for the remaining topics in a VDR:
“We chose these four topic areas as they provide a solid foundation for the review by covering the overall unprecedented safety of the design, our extensive research and development programs, and that we have the quality assurance and other management systems in place to satisfy the CNSC,” said NuScale Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Tom Bergman. “Completion of the vendor design review provides assurance to both the regulator and potential customers that the NuScale design will be acceptable to build and operate in Canada.”
NuScale has signed an agreement with Bruce Power to develop a business case to support the company’s efforts to bring its innovative and unique SMR technology to Canada. Bruce Power is supporting evaluation, planning, and licensing activities for the company in Canada. Support is also provided by Ontario Power Generation, which is represented on the NuScale Advisory Board.
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