Babcock & Wilcox hopes new nuclear reactor will fill niche

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Modular Nuclear Reactors

 

A new Lynchburg-based Babcock & Wilcox operating group will lead the development and deployment of a nuclear reactor design that company officials believe will speed the development of nuclear power sources in the U.S.

John Fees, the former B&W president who now leads its parent company, McDermott International, announced the initiative Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

B&W makes nuclear components for the government at its Mt. Athos plant near the city in Campbell County. It employs about 2,500 people in Central Virginia.

The company expects its B&W mPower Reactor to be cheaper and more quickly built than larger reactors on the market.

“The B&W mPower reactor will be a practical, affordable, near-term answer for the world’s growing demand” for energy, said Christofer Mowry, president of B&W’s new operating unit, Lynchburg-based B&W Modular Nuclear Energy LLC.

As of Dec. 31, 2007, there were 104 licensed commercial nuclear reactors in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Several companies, including Areva, Westinghouse and General Electric, are competing in hopes of building the first new reactor in the country since the 1970s.

The B&W mPower Reactor would have a scalable, modular design, allowing utilities to add electrical generation capacity in increments of 125 megawatts.

Many other reactors on the market today produce either much less or much more electricity. Areva’s Evolutionary Power Reactor, for example, is rated at 1,600 megawatts.

Fees said B&W could add 500 manufacturing and engineering jobs at its locations in Virginia, Ohio and Indiana to help deploy the reactor.

Brandon Bethards, president of B&W, said it’s too early to speculate on the number of jobs the project could bring to the Lynchburg area, but employees in Lynchburg are already working on the project.

“There would be, at the peak of the deployment of this system, a significant add to the number of high-paying … jobs” at B&W sites, including the facility on Mt. Athos Road in Campbell County, Bethards said.

B&W has focused on the mPower Reactor for about two years with extensive market research, Bethards said.

“Our research indicated a growing need for scalable reactors with a modular build approach,” he said.

He said that building reactors with a mid-range power rating is more cost effective than building very small or very large reactors.

“When we stood back and looked at the way the world was going, we thought they were leaving a huge gap,” he said.

Mowry said the scalable technology makes nuclear generation more accessible to smaller utilities in regions with limited electrical transmission capacity.

B&W’s existing facilities would build the reactor modules before shipping them by rail to their destinations.

The reactor’s smaller size would allow it to use more components manufactured in the U.S., including small reactor cores.

Cores for larger reactors now are only made in Japan, although Areva and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding have partnered to build a plant in Newport News to cast large reactor cores.

The reactor would store 60 years’ worth of used fuel underneath it. It would use an air-cooling technology, eliminating the need for large cooling towers and massive amounts of water.

The modular nuclear reactor idea has attracted support from utilities including the Tennessee Valley Authority and Exelon Nuclear. Both have representatives on an industry council that will advise B&W as it finalizes the design and seeks regulatory approval.

“We believe that the mPower product has the potential to be game-changing but also is more practical with lower risk,” said Craig Lambert, director of engineering and new business generation for Exelon.

“MPower has the ability to open power-generation opportunities that possibly the large-scale nuclear designs may not be able to address,” he said.

TVA has signed a letter of intent with B&W to begin evaluating a site for the first mPower reactor. Jack Bailey, vice president of nuclear generation development for TVA, said the utility is considering its Clinch River site.

Bethards said B&W plans to begin discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July. It hopes to submit a design certification application in 2011 and engage a customer that same year.

Bethards said the company could have the first mPower Reactor operational in 2018, although the timeline could change.

Members of Congress who were on hand at B&W’s announcement praised the innovative design for its potential to solve some problems in the development of new nuclear generation.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said that the mPower Reactor will make possible Republican lawmakers’ goal to quickly expand nuclear power.

“I think this makes it possible for us to build 100 new nuclear reactors in 20 years, except some of them will be smaller than we originally thought,” he said.