The first British engineering undergraduates selected to work and study at North America’s most advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) test facilities were announced today.

Four University of Sheffield undergraduates have been chosen for U.S nuclear technology developer, NuScale Power’s fully-funded internship programme, which will run from June through to September this year. Run in partnership with Oregon State University (OSU) and the University of Sheffield, the programme will provide a unique opportunity for these selected students to spend three months this summer at NuScale’s operational base in Corvallis, Oregon.

NuScale’s team of more than 600, centred in Corvallis, Oregon, is developing pioneering SMR technology designed to deliver a more flexible, cost-effective low carbon source of electricity generation. Backed by the U.S. Department of Energy and Fluor Corporation, NuScale is due to submit its Design Certification Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this year and to be generating for its first U.S. customer in 2024.

NuScale has been building a presence in the UK for the past three years with a view to seeing its technology developed, manufactured and deployed in this market, and potentially providing a springboard to export into Europe.

Managing Director – UK & Europe, Tom Mundy said:

“Opening up our world class test facilities to Britain’s future nuclear engineers is an important part of the enduring partnership NuScale is forging with the UK energy sector.

“With our design application being finalised for the regulator this year, these selected students will be contributing to our programme development activities in Corvallis at a crucial moment in our journey to bring this exciting new technology to market.

“The prospects for careers in the UK nuclear industry are strong. We want to play a significant role in building the skills pipeline that’s going to be needed to manufacture and deploy our technology to keep the lights on in the UK and elsewhere.”

The internship programme offers Sheffield undergraduates a rare glimpse into the work being carried out by NuScale’s engineering team. They will also gain valuable hands-on experience in research needed for the future development of the technology. This includes the application of sophisticated laser technology used to analyse the performance of NuScale’s technology at its one-third scale test facility. The state-of-the-art facility, which has operated since 2003, is a first-of-a-kind for the U.S. light water SMR industry.

NuScale’s partnership with the University of Sheffield adds further weight to the company’s commitment to the UK. The company has an agreement with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield to collaborate on the development of NuScale’s technology and has been working on a commercial basis with the National Nuclear Laboratory on fuel development.

Fluor Corporation, with its existing footprint in the UK nuclear sector, is NuScale’s primary investor. Ultra Electronics has signed a strategic partnership with NuScale to work on the development and deployment of the reactor protection system and other safety related instrumentation and control systems. AREVA will be supplying initial cores and subsequent reloads for the company’s first U.S. project. All three companies have a long-standing presence in the UK.

The successful applicants chosen by a joint NuScale-OSU selection panel are:

• Jagoda Cieslik, second year chemical engineering and nuclear technology student;
• Albert Houghton, third year mechanical engineering student;
• David Mansley, third year mechanical engineering student;
• Mark Morrow, third year mechanical engineering student.

About NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale Power, LLC is developing a new kind of nuclear plant; a safer, smaller, scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology, designed with natural safety features; a technology initially developed and tested at Oregon State University. Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR), a global engineering, procurement, and construction company with a 60-year history in commercial nuclear power, is the majority investor in NuScale. As the sole winner of the second round of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) competitively-bid, cost-sharing program to develop nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) 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 NuScale Power Modules™, each producing 50 megawatts of electricity (gross) with its own factory-built combined containment vessel and reactor vessel, and its own packaged turbine-generator set. A power plant can include as many as 12 NuScale Power Modules to produce as much as 600 MWe, gross (570 net, nominal, after house loads). The reactor coolant is driven by natural circulation and can be shut down safely with no operator action, no AC or DC power, and no external water supply. NuScale power plants are scalable - additional modules are added as customer demand for electricity increases. NuScale's technology also is ideally suited to supply energy for district heating, desalination, and other applications. NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and has offices in Corvallis, OR; Rockville, MD; Charlotte, NC; and London, UK.

To keep up to date on NuScale Power in the UK follow @NuScale_UK on Twitter.