Terrestrial Energy has awarded L3Harris Technologies a contract to develop an engineering and operator training simulator for its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR®), a Generation IV nuclear power plant.
The IMSR simulator is being built at L3Harris’ operation in Montreal, Quebec and will be delivered to Terrestrial Energy’s Oakville, Ontario facility in 2021.
The simulator will provide Terrestrial Energy with a "high-fidelity platform to simulate and visualise all major IMSR reactor and power plant functions," a statement said. It will also support Terrestrial Energy’s engineering activities and, subsequently, operator training as development moves to licensing and construction.
“We are applying our high-performance computing and reactor simulation capabilities to IMSR power plant development,” said Rangesh Kasturi, president, Maritime International, L3Harris. “This effort will result in Terrestrial Energy obtaining its first simulator for the IMSR power plant equipping its engineers with a dynamic, integrated and real-world tool to support IMSR deployment.”
In addition to modeling and testing the integrated engineering simulator, L3Harris will provide its state-of-the-art Orchid® simulation environment and training to Terrestrial Energy for further simulator development.
“L3Harris’ simulator provides an extraordinary real-world experience of the IMSR power plant operation and performance. It supports our engineering activities, operator training programmes and future IMSR deployments,” said Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy. “This digital technology illustrates how high-performance computing enables Generation IV innovation capable of providing cost-competitive, reliable, resilient and clean electric power and industrial heat.”
Terrestrial Energy is engaged with regulators and industrial partners to complete IMSR engineering and to commission first IMSR power plants in the late 2020s. The IMSR is designed to produce 400MWt (190MWe), and to operate at higher temperatures (600°C) that traditional reactors.
Photo: Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR nuclear power plant is to be Simulated with L3Harris’ Orchid simulation environment
