The NuScale small modular nuclear reactor project, bleeding customers, is facing existential challenges. The problem is economic, not technical.
NuScale’s SMR, has taken a series of blows recently, despite support from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project, set to be built on DOE land at the Idaho National Laboratory, is losing significant portions of its only customer base, Utah Associated Municipal Power Services (UAMPS).
Tuesday (Oct. 27), the city of Bountiful, Utah, pulled out of the project, another in a growing group of UAMPS cities to rebel at the growing costs of the project. At a city council meeting Tuesday night, Allen Johnson, Bountiful’s power director, recommended that the city remove its 5-MW commitment to the project.
Johnson said the project’s cost “has gone up from $4 billion to $6 billion.” The estimated completion date for the 12-reactor, 720-MW project has also slipped from 2026 to 2030. The city council unanimously accepted Johnson’s recommendation and 44,000-population Bountiful will exit the NuScale project.
Last week, the city of Murray, Utah, with 49,000 people, pulled out of the UAMPS project. Murray power manager Blaine Haacke told the Murray council that only 25% of the plant’s output has buyers “and it’s not a sure thing that the new customers will suddenly come on board once it’s built.” He added, “I love the technology. I trust the operations and safety of the plant. I just don’t like the feel of the subscription level.”
Somewhat ironically, the city of Idaho Falls, Idaho, home of DOE’s Idaho lab, last week voted to cut its 10-MW commitment to the project in half. The Idaho Falls decision was seen as a compromise, keeping its participation alive but reducing the financial risk. The city’s power manager, Bear Prairie, noted that the city needs less electric power than originally projected when it committed to the NuScale project.
The city of Heber, Utah, is also expected to review its 10-MW commitment to the project later this week.
Last week, DOE said it will award UAMPS $1.36 billion as cost sharing for the project. But that figure is aspirational rather than actual. The money would come over 10 years, but DOE has no authority to make such an award. Instead, the money will depend on both the wishes of whatever administration is in power and approval from Congress.
NuScale is owned by engineering and construction firm Fluor. Last month, Reuters cited a report from a University of British Columbia professor that Fluor has cut its investment in Portland, Ore.,-based NuScale.
In other nuclear power news, Georgia Power has announced another four-month delay in its two-unit Vogtle nuclear construction project, The utility has pushed back its date for fuel loading in the first unit to April 2021. The Atlanta Journal Constitution commented “The utility said it still expects to meet a state regulatory deadline to have the first reactor in commercial operation in November 2021. But its wiggle room for doing so has become increasingly thin. Missing the deadline little more than a year from now would increase already soaring costs, which could end up in the electric bills of 2.6 million customers.” The utility attributed the delay to the impact of Covid-19 on its workforce.
In Ohio, the move to repeal at controversial law subsidizing First Energy coal and nuclear plants in on hold, despite widespread approval. The federal government charged several key lawmakers with bribery and racketeering in engineering the bailout legislation, House Bill 6. The Springfield News-Sun reported, “A special committee tasked with considering plans to repeal and replace the bill has suspended its meetings until further notice. Gov. Mike DeWine said he now hopes lawmakers repeal the “tainted” law after the Nov. 3 election.”
— Kennedy Maize