Key Milestone Advances eVinci Microreactor Testing for Commercial Market
Westinghouse Electric Company announced it has submitted its eVinci™ Microreactor Preliminary Safety Design Report (PSDR) to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC). Westinghouse is the first reactor developer to reach this milestone in support of siting its test reactor at NRIC’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
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Westinghouse has submitted the Preliminary Safety Design Report for its eVinci Microreactor to the Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center, which supports the siting of a test reactor at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments test bed at Idaho National Laboratory. (Photo: Business Wire)
The PSDR is a major milestone in the recently completed Front-End Engineering and Experiment Design (FEEED) process that Westinghouse began in October 2023. The PSDR provides comprehensive safety and operational reference materials prepared by the dedicated eVinci team of over 300 world-class engineers and follows DOE-Idaho’s approval of the eVinci Safety Design Strategy.
“The completion of the PSDR for the eVinci test reactor is an important step towards enabling a microreactor developer to perform a test in our DOME facility,” said Brad Tomer, acting director of NRIC. “As a national DOE program and part of INL, the nation’s nuclear energy research laboratory, NRIC is committed to working with private companies such as Westinghouse to perform testing and accelerate development of advanced nuclear technologies that will provide clean energy solutions for the U.S.”
“This PSDR submission is a critical step to bringing the Westinghouse eVinci Microreactor to commercial operation,” said Jon Ball, President of eVinci Technologies at Westinghouse. “We are targeting deployment of multiple eVinci microreactors across the world by the end of the decade, and the strong and continued partnership with INL and the Department of Energy is instrumental to our efforts.”
The eVinci microreactor team will next develop the timeline for the End-to-End Reactor test program at INL, along with a Preliminary Documented Safety Analyses submission. This will be the third of four DOE submissions needed for Westinghouse to install the test reactor in the DOME.
NRIC is a DOE national program to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies like the eVinci microreactor. Its objective is to create four new experimental facilities and two large reactor test beds by 2028 for comprehensive technology demonstrations and experiments, and to finalize two advanced nuclear technology experiments by 2030.
The eVinci microreactor builds on decades of industry-leading Westinghouse innovation to bring carbon-free, safe and scalable energy wherever it is needed for a variety of applications, including providing reliable electricity and heating for remote communities, universities, mining operations, industrial centers, data centers and defense facilities, and soon the lunar surface and beyond. The resilient eVinci microreactor has very few moving parts, working essentially as a battery, providing the versatility for power systems ranging from several kilowatts to 5 megawatts of electricity, delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for eight-plus years without refueling. It can also produce high temperature heat suitable for industrial applications, including alternative fuel production, such as hydrogen, and has the flexibility to balance renewable output. The technology is factory-built and assembled before it is shipped in a container.
Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear and other clean power technologies and services globally. Westinghouse supplied the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the company’s technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
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, celebrating 75 years of scientific innovations in 2024. The laboratory 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: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
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