Charlotte, N.C., February 1, 2012 — The Babcock & Wilcox Co. will apply for a public-private partnership through the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of small modular reactor technology.
A draft funding opportunity announcement issued by the DOE outlines a plan to provide investments to private industry to support the design, licensing and manufacturing of SMRs.
The B&W nuclear reactor is designed to be passively safe and generate 180 MWe. Extensive testing on a prototype is beginning at the integrated system test facility to verify the reactor's design and safety performance. Data collected from the testing program will be used to validate the design and support licensing activities with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
