POWER March 2011 - 9

2. Flexible nuclear power from the deep blue sea.
French defense firm DCNS in January unveiled its Flexblue concept, a
deep-sea submarine-like nuclear plant that would produce and transmit
power to facilities onshore via undersea cables. The unit, which
is planned to have a capacity of between 50 MW and 250 MW, is
encapsulated in a 100-meter-long cylinder with a diameter of 12 m to
15 m. Courtesy: DCNS
Sustainable Design-Build Solutions
When you need
a diameter of 12 m to 15 m (Figure 2). It would transmit power
to facilities close to shore via undersea cables.
DCNS said it has been working on the Flexblue unit for more
than two years and plans to collaborate with the government,
French nuclear giant AREVA, and utility Électricité de France to
optimize its modularity and standardization. The collaboration
has already initiated the next two-year phase of development.
According to DCNS, the companies' next steps include furthering
technical research and exploring production options, including
market potential. They are also working to review safety and security
aspects of seafloor power plants, seeking to demonstrate
that " Flexblue offers a level of safety comparable with that of
third-generation land-based nuclear power plants. "
Several SMR concepts have been introduced in recent years
(see " Are Small Reactors Better? " in POWER's November 2010
issue). Closest to the offshore concept is the 64-MW Russian
surface vessel Akademik Lomonosov, which was launched from
the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg in July 2010.
In the U.S., the Department of Energy's Savannah River site
is exploring the possibility of hosting and testing several prototypes
of small units, including Hyperion Power Generation's
Hyperion Power Module and GE Hitachi's PRISM.
And last November, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) told
nuclear regulators that it was considering using Babcock & Wilcox-designed
mPower reactors by 2020, building them on the
site of the abandoned Clinch River Breeder Reactor in Oak Ridge,
Tenn. If granted a license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC), TVA could be the first utility in the U.S. to build
the reactors.
The relatively new sector has also suffered several setbacks,
however. In January, it was widely reported that
startup SMR developer NuScale Power was facing funding
problems as the Securities and Exchange Commission filed
suit against its key financier, The Michael Kenwood Group,
barring it from meeting funding obligations to the company.
NuScale is currently seeking other funding sources to fuel
development of its project.
Nor is the sector immune to legal challenges afflicting other
power generation types. The DOE Savannah River program that
is testing SMR prototypes was in January charged with trying
to avoid having to submit the reactors to the NRC for licenses
to build them. The DOE said that it plans to engage regulators
throughout all aspects of the reactors' project development but
said it had the " the authority to construct, operate and monitor
safety of research reactors at its sites. " It added: " NRC regulation
is not necessary unless these reactors feed electricity to a commercial
grid. "
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