Not exact matches
The 22
new reactors proposed in the U.S. use so - called Gen III +
designs that are safer than today's
reactors,
which date to the 1970s or earlier.
But neither the South Texas facility nor the applications for
new reactors at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland and the Shearon Harris nuclear plant outside Raleigh, N.C., have completed the NRC's long
design safety and feasibility evaluation,
which could take years to complete.
To this end, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between General Electric and Hitachi, is researching a
reactor design which would use recycled spent nuclear fuel instead of creating
new fuel.
To my mind, the Fukushima failure also builds the case for the kind of push under way in China,
which is moving forward with construction of the first two of a
new generation of nuclear
reactors — cooled by helium, not water, and
designed in a way that can not produce a meltdown of the fuel.
This makes very good sense to me, the cost would drop dramatically if we changed our regulation environment for nuclear, the
new passive cooling
reactors are much much safer than older
reactor designs, and regional storage (
which we have de facto anyway) solves the waste problem.
The
new FOA covers three funding pathways: First - of - a-Kind (FOAK) Nuclear Demonstration Readiness Project pathway, intended to address major advanced
reactor design development projects or complex technology advancements for existing plants
which have significant technical and licensing risk, and have the potential to be deployed by the mid-to-late 2020s; Advanced
Reactor Development Projects pathway, covering a broad scope of concepts and ideas that could improve the capabilities and commercialisation potential of advanced
reactor designs and technologies; and Regulatory Assistance Grants, providing support towards obtaining certification and licensing approvals for advanced
reactor designs and capabilities.