NuScale has received a final safety evaluation report for its small modular reactor. The reactor is capable of shutting itself off automatically in case of an emergency. (Image Credit: NuScale Power)
According to a statement, NuScale received a final safety evaluation report (FSER) from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its small modular reactor. The reactor is a 76-foot tall, 15-foot wide steel cylinder that can generate 50 megawatts of electricity.
The design utilizes uranium fuel rods that heat water in an internal, pressurized loop. That water then passes its high temperature to an external steam loop via a heat exchange coil. The steam then runs to a generating turbine where it cools off and circulates back to the reactors.
“NuScale is a natural circulation light water reactor with the reactor core and helical coil steam generators located in a common reactor vessel in a cylindrical steel containment,” the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission explains.
If a runaway reactor event were to occur, the reactor could quench itself in its pool to make it passively safe. No pumps are moving parts are needed to keep it safe. The pressurized internal loop is set up so that hot water can rise through the heat exchange coils and sink towards the fuel rods after cooling.
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