IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency

Dr. M. Hadid Subki

Technical Lead, SMR Technology Development

Division of Nuclear Power, Department of Nuclear Energy

Atoms for the Future 2013 – SFEN Jeune Generation,

Paris, France, 21 – 22 October 2013

Small Modular Reactors

and their use for Specific Power Grids

IAEA

Motivation – Driving Forces …

• The need for flexible power generation for wider

range of users and applications;

• Replacement of aging fossil-fired units;

• Potential for enhanced safety margin through

inherent and/or passive safety features;

• Economic consideration – better affordability;

• Potential for innovative energy systems:

• Cogeneration & non-electric applications

• Hybrid energy systems of nuclear with renewables

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IAEA

Electric Capacity additions and required

investment 2011 – 2035 Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2011, New Policies Scenario

Regions Capacity addition,

GWe

Power generation

investment, billion $

Transmission &

Distribution

investment, billion $

North America 880 1,738 1,271

Europa 938 1,976 915

East Europe, Eurasia 331 588 442

Asia 2,893 4,106 3,486

Other 854 1,383 978

World total 5,986 9,791 7,092

Asia has the largest capacity addition in the next 2 decades - that

requires the largest investment for transmission and distribution

IAEA

Use of SMRs for electricity grid-stabilization

• In the EU:

• large power markets & well interconnected grid

• large power additions/subtractions could cause grid instabilities.

• future systems will have increasing shares of renewable energy sources

(mainly wind power) that will affect the electrical grid operation and require a

different and more flexible back-up approach.

• Most SMR concepts intended for generating base-load power; however

innovative concept can be operated in a load-following

• Some new concepts will have enhanced load follow capability

• If SMRs cost competitive with clean coal & natural gas, they could be

used as peak and back-up power units.

• The EU and some countries also studying a “smart grid” and energy

storage systems

• Allow greater use of decentralized sources of renewable energy which would

also enable economic operation of nuclear reactors producing base-load

electricity.

Source: D. Shropshire, EC – JRC, 2011

IAEA

Countries considering SMR technology

deployment – domestically

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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Legend / Results

Considering 20/37

Not considering 14/37

Undecided 3/37

Country technology 13/37

developer

Africa

Algeria

Egypt

Kenya

Nigeria

South Africa

Tunisia

Middle-East

Jordan

UAE

Europe

Albania

Armenia

Bulgaria

Finland

France

Germany

Hungary

Italy

Poland

Romania

Russia

Spain

U K

Ukraine

Asia

Bangladesh

China

India

Indonesia

Japan

Korea

Malaysia

Pakistan

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

America

Argentina

Canada

Chile

U S A

IAEA

Grid Characteristics

Interconnected and Regional Grids preferred

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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IAEA

Site Selection issues -

Off-grid remote power requirements, public acceptance etc.

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Distance fromapplication

centres

Space Access tocooling water

External events(EE) &

combined EE

Grid structureand potential

other

Very Important

More Important

Important

Less Important

Not Important

IAEA

Siting for NPP and/or specific for SMR

• Russia: KLT-40S FNPP construction near completion; site for

SVBR-100 construction prepared;

• China is constructing HTR-PM in Shiadowan;

• Argentina completed site excavation for CAREM-25

• US-DOE sponsors deployment of mPower for TVA in Clinch

River Site for 2022 time frame; Potential utilities identified for

NuScale, W-SMR and SMR-160

• Canada’s comprehensive study on deployment of SMRs in

remote areas in the southern and northern territories;

• Embarking countries in South East Asia with archipelago have

several candidate sites for SMRs;

• Korea: several local governments invite SMR construction

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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IAEA

SMRs for Non-Electric Application

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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54%

8%

20%

18%

Desalination

H2 production

District heating

Process heat for industry

In addition to Desalination – SMRs expected to produce process heat for

industry, and district heat in arctic sites

IAEA

Current Newcomer Countries Plan

Country Grid Capacity

in GWe

Current Deployment Plan

Bangladesh 5.8 2 x 1000 MWe PWRs in Rooppur in 2018

Vietnam 15.19 4 x 1000 MWe PWRs in Ninh Thuan #1 by 2020

4 x 1000 MWe PWRs in Ninh Thuan #2 by 2025

Jordan 2.6 2 x 1000 - 1100 MWe PWR + interest in SMR

UAE 23.25 4 x 1400 MWe PWR in Braka by 2018

Belarus 8.03 2 x 1200 MWe PWR in Ostrovets by 2018

Turkey 44.76 4 x 1200 MWe PWR in Akkuyu by 2022

4 x 1100 MWe PWR in Sinop by 2025

Malaysia 25.54 2 x 1000 MWe LWRs by 2025 + interest in SMR

Indonesia 32.8 2 x 1000 LWRs, with potential interest of deploying

Small Reactors for industrial process and non-electric

applications by 2024

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Commercial unavailability limits Newcomer

Countries in advanced SMR Technology Selection

IAEA

Status of Countries on SMR Initiatives

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Technology developer countries

(NPPs in operation)

Countries with NPPs

Newcomer countries

Asia

Europe

Africa

Latin America

Which countries deploy SMRs?

IAEA

Countries preference in particular

SMR design and technology

• Integral-PWR type SMRs with modularization are

under in Argentina, China, India, Korea, Russia

and the United States;

• RF prioritizes FNPP and LMFR-SVBR-100

• France & Russia develop marine-based SMRs

• Embarking countries undecided on designs, but

preferred proven-technology.

• Some embarking countries have started

deployment of large reactors, due to lack of

commercial availability of advanced SMRs;

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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IAEA

Countries preference in particular

SMR design and technology

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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Europe

Albania

Finland iPWR

Poland HTRs

Romania

iPWRs

Russia

FNPP, LM-

FRs, iPWRs,

SBRs

Asia

Bangladesh

China

HTR, FBR,

iPWR

India

PHWR, HTR,

FBR, LWR

Indonesia

Korea

iPWR, HTR,

LM-FBR

Malaysia

Pakistan

iPWRs, PWR

Thailand

Middle-East

Jordan iPWR

Africa

Algeria FNPP

Egypt

Kenya

Nigeria

Tunisia

America

Argentina

iPWR

Canada

iPWR, HTRs,

LM-FRs

U S A iPWR

Legend / Results

Technology Neutral

IAEA

On modularization technology

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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39%

39%

22%Capable of addingmodules within acommon building

Separate secondary sysfor additional modules

Modularization notnecessary

~80% preferred SMR with Modularization to be competitive with LRs and

NG and clean-coal plants ~ construction schedule wise

IAEA

Innovative Application of SMRs with Non-Nuclear

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Source: U.S. DOE, 2010

IAEA

Application of Hybrid Energy System of SMRs with

Cogeneration and Renewable Energy Sources

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Max Output of 1061 MWe

to the power GRID ►►

Composite

Wind Farms

Node

Dynamic

Energy

Switching

Nuclear reactor

347 MWe (755 MWth)

Reactor

Heat ►

1.000.000

t/DM/yr

Variable

Electricity ►

+Synfuel

Production

1018 MWe

Regional Biomass (80 Km radius or

~2 million hectares)

Drying and

Torrefaction

Processes

+ Pyrolysis

104 GWh

heat at 200C

1169 GWh

heat at 500C

753m3/day bio-diesel

597m3/day bio-gasoline

Torrified Product

Pyrolyzed oil + char + offgas

42.000 t H2/yr

Hydrogen

Electrolysis

Offsetting SMR ▲

Electricity

Source: J. Carlsson, D. Shropshire, EC – JRC, 2011

IAEA

Issues of Integrating SMR + Cogeneration + Wind

• Challenge in finding the optimal ratio of the wind

farm capacity to nuclear capacity, while providing

adequate heat to support biomass processing

while matching power demands

• Variability of power to grid relative to instantaneous

demand should be minimized

• If nuclear is sized too large, variability of power

production may be reduced, however, process

heat and electricity are wasted

• Biomass availability is a key constraint

Source: J. Carlsson, D. Shropshire, EC – JRC, 2011

IAEA

Economic Trade-offs

Hybrid System with RES Conventional System

with RES

Compensates variable RES Highly variable RES

Electricity price in

balancing/peaking markets

Electricity price in

base-load electricity market

Value from Synfuels Cost to remove waste heat

Additional capital and

operating costs, some loss of

thermal efficiency

Addition of grid upgrades and

energy storage for balancing,

subject to fuel price volatility

Little or no backup capacity

needed, no carbon emitted

100% backup for RES, using

natural gas, subject to C-tax

Source: J. Carlsson, D. Shropshire, EC – JRC, 2011

IAEA

Impediments on Introducing SMRS

over Large NPPs

29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

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Key Impediments: operating records of advanced SMRs/proven

technology; safety concerns in post-Fukushima.

IAEA

Issues on licensing and regulation in

SMR deployment

• The need to develop legal and institutional frameworks, particularly for

deployment in foreign market;

• Lack of human resource, skills and capacity, limited operating

experience in advanced SMRs;

• Public acceptance, lack of persistent support from governments, and no

laws and regulations for both NPP and SMR in new entrants;

• The need to assure that SMR regulatory framework is applied

commensurate with attended risk, so deployment can be accomplished

in a cost-effective manner and competitive with alternative energies;

• Long lead-time to prepare for and receive regulatory review;

• The need to get sufficient regulatory credit for inherent safety and

security in the design;

• For SMR with innovative features: review code & standards that impact

licensing. Could take 2 – 5 years to develop and approve revisions.

• Embarking countries lack of infrastructure and HR to conduct

technology assessment and R&D for HR development; 29 July - 2 August 2013 6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on

Licensing and Safety Issues of SMRs

20

IAEA

What’s New in Global SMR Development?

mPower

NuScale

W-SMR

Hi-SMUR

EM2, GTMHR

B&W received US-DOE funding for mPower design. The total funding is

452M$/5 years for 2 out of 4 competing iPWR based-SMRs. Some have

utilities to deploy in specific sites. US-DOE also announced the second round

of SMR funding in March 2013.

SMART

On 4 July 2012, the Korean Nuclear Safety and Security Commission issued

the Standard Design Approval for the 100 MWe SMART – the first iPWR

received certification.

KLT-40s

SVBR-100

BREST-300

SHELF

Construction of 2 modules of barge-mounted KLT-40s near completion; Lead

Bismuth cooled SVBR-100 & Lead-cooled BREST-300 to deploy by 2018,

SHELF seabed-based conceptual design

Flexblue DCNS originated Flexblue capsule, 50-250 MWe, 60-100m seabed-moored,

5-15 km from the coast, off-shore and local control rooms

CAREM-25 Site excavation for CAREM-25 completed; licensed for construction, first

concrete pouring ~ November 2013

4S Toshiba had promoted the 4S for a design certification with the US NRC for

application in Alaska and newcomer countries.

PFBR-500

PHWRs: 220,

540 & 700,

AHWR300-LEU

The Prototype FBR ready for commissioning and start-up test. 4 units of

PHWR-700 under construction, 4 more units to follow. AHWR300-LEU at

final detailed design stage and ready for construction. 21

IAEA

What’s New in Global SMR Development? (cont’d)

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CEFR

HTR-PM

ACP-100

CAP-150

2 modules of HTR-PM under construction;

CNNC developing ACP-100 which will be constructed by 2018

SNPTC developing CAP-150 and CAP-S

IRIS

Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) and universities in Croatia & Japan are

continuing the development of IRIS design - previously lead by the

Westinghouse Consortium

Recently introduced at the 2012 – 2013 IAEA SMR Meetings: ACP-100, CNNC, China

CAP-150, SNERDI, China Flexblue, DCNS, France

IAEA

Reactors Under Construction in SMR category

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Country Reactor

Model

Output

(MWe)

Designer Number

of units

Site, Plant ID, and

unit #

Commercial

Start

Argentina CAREM-25

(a prototype)

27 CNEA 1 CAREM-25 2017 ~ 2018

China HTR-PM 250 Tsinghua

Univ./Harbin

2 mods,

1 turbine

Shidaowan unit 1 2017 ~ 2018

India PFBR-500

(a prototype)

500 IGCAR 1 Kalpakkam 2013

Russian

Federation

KLT-40S

(ship-borne)

30 OKBM

Afrikantov

2

FNPP

Akademik Lomonosov units 1 & 2 2015

IAEA

SMRs for Near-term Deployment Name

Design Organization

Country of Origin

Electrical Capacity,

MWe Design Status

1 System Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor (SMART)

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute

Republic of Korea 100 Standard Design Approval

Received 4 July 2012

2 SVBR-100 JSC AKME Engineering Russian

Federation 100

Detailed design for prototype construction

3 mPower Babcock & Wilcox United States of

America 180/module

Design Certification Application starts mid 2014

4 NuScale NuScale Power Inc. United States of

America 45/module

Design Certification Application starts mid 2014

5 Westinghouse

SMR Westinghouse

United States of America

225 Design Certification

Application starts mid 2014

6 ACP100 CNNC/NPIC China 100 Basic Design, Construction

Starts in 2016

IAEA

Advantages Challenges

Tech

no

log

ical Is

su

es

• Shorter construction period

(modularization)

• Potential for enhanced safety and

reliability

• Design simplicity

• Suitability for non-electric

application (desalination, etc.).

• Replacement for aging fossil

plants, reducing GHG emissions

• Licensability (due to innovative or

first-of-a-kind engineering structure,

systems and components)

• Non-LWR technologies

• Operability performance/record

• Human factor engineering; operator

staffing for multiple-modules plant

• Post Fukushima action items on

design and safety

No

n-T

ech

no

log

ical

Issu

es

• Fitness for smaller electricity grids

• Options to match demand growth

by incremental capacity increase

• Site flexibility

• Reduced emergency planning zone

• Lower upfront capital cost (better

affordability)

• Easier financing scheme

• Economic competitiveness

• First of a kind cost estimate

• Regulatory infrastructure (in both

expanding and newcomer countries)

• Availability of design for newcomers

• Infrastructure requirements

• Post Fukushima action items on

institutional issues and public

acceptance

Perceived Advantages and Challenges

IAEA Observation

25

IAEA

Summary

• Studies needed to evaluate the potential benefits of deploying SMRs in

grid systems that contain large shares of renewable energy.

• Studies needed to assess SMR “target costs” in future cogeneration

markets, the benefits from coupling SMRs with wind turbines to

stabilize the power grid, and impacts on sustainability measures from

deployment.

• There are technical challenges in integrating nuclear with RES,

however “no solution that allows significant increases to

renewable energy penetration in the grid will be simple”

• SMR is an attractive option to enhance energy supply security in

newcomer countries with small grids and less-developed

infrastructure and in advanced countries requiring power supplies in

remote areas and/or specific purpose;

• Innovative SMR concepts have common technology development

challenges, including regulatory and licensing frameworks

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IAEA

For inquiries, please contact:

Dr. M. Hadid Subki <M.Subki@iaea.org> 27

… Thank you for your attention.