US Holtec International and Canada’s SNC-Lavalin announced on 17 July that they had formalised an agreement to collaborate on Holtec’s SMR-160 Small Modular Reactor programme. The partnership aims “to vigorously accelerate the reactor system’s ongoing development and international licensing efforts by linking SNC-Lavalin’s world-class Nuclear team with Holtec’s SMR team”. SNC-Lavalin specialises in the design and supply of nuclear reactors as well as reactor products and services. The company “was greatly enhanced" by the 2011 purchase of the commercial reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited along with the development and marketing rights to Candu reactor technology, the statement said.
SNC-Lavalin will initially provide Holtec with a range of nuclear engineering services, including supporting licensing of the SMR-160 reactor, “a passive, intrinsically safe, supremely secure, and economically attractive small modular reactor with the flexibility to be used in remote locations, in areas with limited water supplies or land, and in unique industrial applications where traditional larger reactors are not practical”. Holtec International launched the SMR-160 programme in late 2010. It is financed with private funds. “Thanks to the passion and support of PSEG of Newark, NJ; Mitsubishi Electric of Tokyo, Japan and SNC-Lavalin of Montreal, Canada, the programme continues to forge ahead, with the initial licensing application expected by December 2018.
Photo: Holtec’s Small Modular Reactor, SMR-160
