GE Hitachi and Fermi Energia signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding for the possible application of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Estonia. The aim of the signed agreement is to analyse the economic feasibility of building the BWRX-300 small-scale BWR reactor, the choice of location and to assess the regulatory framework here.
"The BWRX-300 small modular reactor is a breakthrough technology that is cost-competitive with natural gas and renewables, and we believe it would be an ideal solution for Estonia's zero-carbon energy supply," said Jon Ball, vice president of projects at the GEH nuclear power plant. "We are working with Fermi Energy to demonstrate the safety, technical capability and cost-effectiveness of this innovative reactor technology.
"Estonia must seriously consider the deployment of a new generation of small nuclear reactors in order to maintain its energy independence and achieve climate neutrality," said Kalev Kallemets, Chairman of the Board of Fermi Energia. "Convection reactors have been operating safely, reliably and economically in the Nordic countries for decades, and are important sources of large-scale, carbon-free energy. The BWRX-300 reactor will make this technology a feasible investment and competitive in the open electricity market of the 21st century."
The BWRX-300 is a 300MW electric power, naturally-cycle, passively-cooled boiling water reactor based on the ESBWR reactor type licensed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Due to significant technical simplification, GEH estimates that the BWRX-300 will require 60 percent less capital expenditure per megawatt of capacity than other small modular reactors or existing large nuclear reactors.
GEH is convinced that, based on the ESBWR type licence, using certified fuel, verified components and supply chain, and implementing innovations to simplify construction, the electricity produced by the BWRX-300 will be competitively priced with, for example, electricity produced from natural gas in the United States, which has no CO2 taxes.
The BWRX-300 represents the tenth generation of BWRs developed since 1955. GE Hitachi is a joint venture formed in 2007 by the nuclear majors General Electric and Hitachi, headquartered in Wilmington, NC, which has built 70 BWRs worldwide. GE's designs have also been used to build the Oskarshamn and Forsmark reactors in Sweden and the Olkiluoto 1 and 2 reactors in Finland.
Fermi Energia will publish the feasibility study "Suitability of a small modular reactor to meet Estonia's electricity security of supply and climate objectives", prepared by specialists from Estonia, Finland and Belgium, at a conference in Tallinn on 28 January 2020.