Representatives from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian utilities met with NuScale Power at its Corvallis, Oregon, offices July 24-26, for the small modular reactor developer’s semi-annual Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting.

NuScale Power’s CAB is comprised of 19 member companies including the owners and operations of more than one-half of the US operating fleet of 104 commercial nuclear power plants. Attendees were provided with technical, regulatory and commercial briefings in order to provide guidance to NuScale on the company’s path to commercialization.

A highlight of the meeting was the opportunity for attendees to perform operating and shutdown actions for a NuScale SMR using the company’s recently commissioned control room simulator. The simulator models the operation of a 540 MWe nuclear power plant using 12 NuScale SMR modules.

In addition, the CAB members received a full walkthrough of the one-fourth scale AP-1000 prototype test facility and the one-third-scale NuScale SMR prototype test facility, both at Oregon State University.

One attendee noted that NuScale’s design team has gained impressive institutional knowledge through more than a decade of testing using the SMR test facility at OSU. “Many SMR suppliers show nice pictures and talk about what they are planning to do, but you guys have the experience, the talent and the single-minded focus to make this happen---and you are actually doing it,” said Doug Hunter, General Manager of Salt Lake City based UAMPS.

CAB members also commented on the technical depth and breadth of the more than 260 people engaged in the development of the NuScale technology, as evidenced by presentations provided by more than 25 NuScale executives, managers, engineers and advisors.

NuScale also conducted a briefing for 18 of its key supply chain members concurrent with the customer advisory board meeting. Members of the CAB continue to advise NuScale on an ad hoc basis on specific aspects of its technology, engineering and design development efforts.

About NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale Power, LLC is developing an inherently safe, modular, scalable commercial nuclear power technology. NuScale’s design offers the benefits of carbon-free nuclear power but takes away the issues presented by the cost of installing large capacity. A nuclear power plant using NuScale’s technology is comprised of individual nuclear power modules; each produces 45 megawatts of electricity with its own combined containment vessel and reactor system, and its own designated turbine-generator set. A power plant can include as many as 12 NuScale integral PWR modules to produce as much as 540 megawatts. NuScale power plants are scalable – additional modules are added as customer demand for electricity increases. These multi-module plants are highly reliable – one unit can be taken out of service for refueling or maintenance, or a new unit added, without affecting the operation of the others. The reactors are cooled by natural convection of water, requiring no pumps in event of a shutdown.