Orano Providing Design and Fabrication Expertise for Team Developing World’s First Fast-spectrum Salt Reactor
Services include the design and fabrication of containers to transport fresh and used fuel and supporting the design and fabrication of the MCRE reactor vessel and subsystems.
BETHESDA, MD, Nov. 30, 2021 – As part of a recent announcement of an agreement between Southern Company and the U.S. Department of Energy to design, construct and operate the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE), Orano will perform critical roles in the design and fabrication of the fuel salt containers transport packaging and of the reactor vessel and component subsystems.
Selected for funding under DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), the small reactor experiment will advance TerraPower’s Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) — a technology important to a sustainable clean energy future. Southern Company research and development (R&D) will lead the effort in a collaboration that includes TerraPower, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), CORE POWER, Orano, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and 3M Company. The team’s ongoing alliance with DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy through the ARDP is essential for delivering this key technology and will be supported by a five-year, $170 million cost-shared funding agreement.
“We’re proud to support the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment team and the advanced reactor industry by applying Orano’s depth of knowledge and experience in the nuclear fuel cycle to help accelerate innovative reactor development,” said Dorothy Davidson, president of Orano Federal Services. “Advanced nuclear energy is crucial to achieving many of our nation’s goals as a steady generator of good-paying jobs, economic growth, reliable clean-air electricity, and, especially with molten salt reactors, high-grade process heat and storage for industrial markets and decarbonizing commercial shipping.”
Working with INL, the Orano team will help define and understand the requirements for developing fuel salt containers to securely transport the fresh and used nuclear fuel. The development of these fuel salt containers for MCRE taps into Orano’s decades of expertise designing and fabricating transport and storage containers for nuclear fuel for the U.S. fleet of existing light water reactors. The transport and dry storage of nuclear fuel has been performed safely for more than 50 years of commercial U.S. nuclear energy production.
Orano will also support the conceptual and preliminary designs and fabrication for portions of MCRE, which may include the shielding system, reactor coolant system, instrumentation and controls system, cover gas system, and fuel handling system, plus test components.
MCRE will be the world’s first chloride fast-spectrum, salt-fueled nuclear fission reactor to go critical, meaning that it is operating on a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The project represents a significant inflection point in the technology demonstration road map for TerraPower’s MCFR, as the project will inform the design, licensing and operation of an MCFR demonstration reactor. An environmental review will be completed for the MCRE in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act before final design and construction begin.
About Orano Federal Services
Orano Federal Services is a valued partner for developing advanced nuclear solutions by applying our owner/operator perspective and broad range of global technology solutions. Orano Federal Services is a business unit within Orano USA, part of the global Orano Group. Orano is a major player worldwide in nuclear fuel cycle products and services from mining to dismantling, conversion, enrichment, recycling, logistics and engineering. With 16,000 employees, the Group is committed to giving nuclear energy its full value.
Media Contact: Curtis Roberts, Press Officer, 202-374-8766, curtis.roberts@orano.group. Orano USA, 4747 Bethesda Ave., Suite 1001, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. www.orano.group/usa, @Orano_usa
About Idaho National Laboratory
Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. For more information, visit www.inl.gov. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Selected for funding under DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), the small reactor experiment will advance TerraPower’s Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) — a technology important to a sustainable clean energy future. Southern Company research and development (R&D) will lead the effort in a collaboration that includes TerraPower, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), CORE POWER, Orano, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and 3M Company. The team’s ongoing alliance with DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy through the ARDP is essential for delivering this key technology and will be supported by a five-year, $170 million cost-shared funding agreement.
“We’re proud to support the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment team and the advanced reactor industry by applying Orano’s depth of knowledge and experience in the nuclear fuel cycle to help accelerate innovative reactor development,” said Dorothy Davidson, president of Orano Federal Services. “Advanced nuclear energy is crucial to achieving many of our nation’s goals as a steady generator of good-paying jobs, economic growth, reliable clean-air electricity, and, especially with molten salt reactors, high-grade process heat and storage for industrial markets and decarbonizing commercial shipping.”
Working with INL, the Orano team will help define and understand the requirements for developing fuel salt containers to securely transport the fresh and used nuclear fuel. The development of these fuel salt containers for MCRE taps into Orano’s decades of expertise designing and fabricating transport and storage containers for nuclear fuel for the U.S. fleet of existing light water reactors. The transport and dry storage of nuclear fuel has been performed safely for more than 50 years of commercial U.S. nuclear energy production.
Orano will also support the conceptual and preliminary designs and fabrication for portions of MCRE, which may include the shielding system, reactor coolant system, instrumentation and controls system, cover gas system, and fuel handling system, plus test components.
MCRE will be the world’s first chloride fast-spectrum, salt-fueled nuclear fission reactor to go critical, meaning that it is operating on a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The project represents a significant inflection point in the technology demonstration road map for TerraPower’s MCFR, as the project will inform the design, licensing and operation of an MCFR demonstration reactor. An environmental review will be completed for the MCRE in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act before final design and construction begin.
About Orano Federal Services
Orano Federal Services is a valued partner for developing advanced nuclear solutions by applying our owner/operator perspective and broad range of global technology solutions. Orano Federal Services is a business unit within Orano USA, part of the global Orano Group. Orano is a major player worldwide in nuclear fuel cycle products and services from mining to dismantling, conversion, enrichment, recycling, logistics and engineering. With 16,000 employees, the Group is committed to giving nuclear energy its full value.
Media Contact: Curtis Roberts, Press Officer, 202-374-8766, curtis.roberts@orano.group. Orano USA, 4747 Bethesda Ave., Suite 1001, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. www.orano.group/usa, @Orano_usa
About Idaho National Laboratory
Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. For more information, visit www.inl.gov. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.