Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced on 23 March that its US subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric Power Products had received a contract from Holtec International to expedite the design engineering of the digital instrumentation and control systems (I&C) for Holtec’s SMR-160 small modular reactor.
Mitsubishi Electric and Holtec began developing preliminary designs for the SMR-160’s I&C under an agreement signed in 2016 and will now accelerate these activities. Holtec, which aims to secure a SMR-160 construction licence in 2025, is now considering deployment of a demonstration reactor.
In December 2020, Holtec was selected as an awardee by the US Department of Energy Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme (ARDP) to design, engineer and license development of the SMR-160. Pursuant to the ARDP selection, Holtec issued the purchase order to Mitsubishi Electric to develop a control-room simulator that will be used to verify I&C design and review operation.
Holtec selected Mitsubishi Electric’s MELTAC controls for the SMR-160 design based on the company’s long experience with nuclear power plant controls. In 2018, Mitsubishi Electric’s MELTAC Nplus S safety control platform was favourably evaluated for use in US nuclear power plants by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Photo: MELTAC Nplus S digital safety I&C controller for SMR-160
