The Portland, Oregon-based NuScale Power has announced that it has finished the fabrication and assembly of a full-scale, upper module mock-up of a small modular reactor. It is called the NuScale Power Module™ or NPM.
The mock-up includes “top assembly of the NuScale Power Module from the module access platform down to the elevation of the reactor vessel head,” the company said. The main components include the upper portion of the containment vessel, the reactor vessel head, major piping, such as steam, feed water and CVC, control rod drive mechanisms, major valves, such as isolation and ECC valves, and the module access platform.
In a statement, NuScale said the mockup would “give engineers important insights into the inspection and maintenance activities,” of the small modular reactor, which is touted by many as a game changer for the nuclear power industry, allowing for safer, even meltdown-proof reactors that are cheaper and much faster to build than standard nuclear reactors.