Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle) and the nuclear research centre SCK CEN have launched a formal preliminary consultation on an innovative small modular reactor (SMR) that uses lead-cooled fast reactor technology. The consultation, which will last two and a half years, aims to identify and, if possible, correct potential obstacles to a possible permit application.
FANC emphasised that the consultation does not mean that a permit application will be automatically approved, stressing its role as an independent supervisor. “We do not take a position on the desirability of nuclear projects, but ensure that when they get there, it is done safely and in accordance with legislation.” Consultations will take place through workshops and exchange of technical documentation on nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation. First the fundamental principles will be examined, after which more technical details may become a focus.
FANC Director General Pascale Absil said nuclear safety is always central “even when it comes to new technologies, which present greater challenges”. SCK CEN Director General Peter Baeten said the consultation “is an essential step to ensure that our innovative technologies are not only scientifically advanced, but also meet the safety standards”.
The preliminary consultation is part of the development of a lead-cooled SMR conceptual design within the European EU-SMR-LFR (Lead cooled Fast Reactor) project, in which SCK CEN collaborates with partners in Italy and Romania. International cooperation is an important aspect of this project. Romanian nuclear regulator (CNCAN) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will also take part in the consultations.
FANC said this is the first time that it has collaborated so early in a project with international partners within an exploratory framework. “This international dimension is important added value in this process”, noted Absil. “It makes it possible to exchange insights with other safety authorities, which is valuable for a careful and objective assessment.”
The EU-SMR-LFR project is being carried out by a consortium of European partners: Belgium’s SCK-CEN: Italy’s national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (ENEA- Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile) and Ansaldo Nucleare: and Romania’s Regia Autonoma Tehnologii pentru Energia Nucleara (RATEN). The focus is not only on research into lead-cooled, fast reactor technology, but also on commercialisation of the technology.
Ansaldo Nucleare coordinated Euratom’s project ELSY (European Lead cooled SYstem) from its start in 2006. The goal was to develop an innovative pre-conceptual design of an industrial lead-cooled fast reactor for electricity production based on a closed fuel cycle. Following ELSY’s completion (2010), in the frame of EU 7th framework programme, Ansaldo became the leading organisation and coordinator of the LEADER project (Lead-cooled European Advanced DEmonstration Reactor). This aimed to develop a conceptual design of a Lead Fast Reactor Industrial size plant (the European LFR – ELFR) and of a scaled demonstrator of the LFR technology called ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator).
In 2019, Romanian utility Nuclearelectrica signed a MOU with the Fostering ALfred CONstruction (FALCON) consortium for cooperation on ALFRED, planned for construction in Romania. FALCON had been established in 2013, comprising ENEA and Ansaldo Nucleare, as well as Romania’s RATEN-ICN, and later CV-Rez. In 2017, the consortium members renewed the consortium, reaffirming their objectives.
A 300 MWt demonstration ALFRED unit is expected to be built at RATEN-ICN’s facility in Mioveni, near Pitesti in Romania, where a fuel manufacturing plant supplies fuel for Romania’s Cernavoda NPP. ALFRED is to prepare the way for a 300-400 MWe industrial demonstration unit, featuring passive safety systems, which will use mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and operate at temperatures of around 550°C. The total cost of the project was estimated at some €1.0bn.
Ansaldo Nucleare led the conceptual design of ALFRED as part of the seventh Euratom framework programme. ENEA was responsible for the core design, technological development and safety analyses. The reactor was being developed through the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII), as part of the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan. ESNII was set up under the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform, formed in 2007.
In 2021, a consortium comprising Ansaldo Nucleare and Reinvent Energy (Romania) was awarded a contract worth around €20m for the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of the Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application (ATHENA) experimental plant – a research facility for the development of lead-cooled reactors. ATHENA is planned to be built at RATEN-ICN’s Pitesti research centre and will include a 2.21 MWt pool-type plant housing 880 tonnes of liquid lead in a main vessel (3m in diameter by 10m in height). This facility will also house scale components for testing and demonstration of technology for LFR reactors.
The consortium is supported by ENEA and Italian engineering company SRS for the conceptual and executive design of the technological part, as well as by Romania’s Ispe and Somet (for the design of civil works and installation. The project involves the construction of an electrical core simulator, a main pump and a heat exchanger similar to the arrangement of the ALFRED system.
In 2022, the Belgian government entrusted the task of identifying innovative SMRs to SCK CEN, as well as the search for suitable partners to develop lead-cooled fast SMRs. The collaboration outlined a way forward, based on a gradual approach through demonstration phases. This will start with a small reactor to demonstrate the technological and engineering aspects of commercial SMR-LFR at SCK CEN’s Mol site in Belgium by 2035-2040.
In the meantime, the group will work towards the construction of ALFRED in Pitești, focusing on the technical and economic feasibility of future commercial SMRs. This will exploit and expand the work done in the last 10 years to achieve this goal by Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA and RATEN within the FALCON consortium.
In October 2022, Westinghouse and Ansaldo Nucleare signed a cooperation agreement to develop a next-generation NPP based on LFR technology. The two companies will advance a common design to maximise synergies, combine experience in design, testing and licensing, and align respective partner and supply chain organisations. Westinghouse said the agreement builds upon development activities already underway in the UK, USA, Italy, and Romania, where more than ten state-of-the-art, lead-based test facilities are being installed.
In May 2023, Ansaldo Nucleare and Westinghouse said initial testing had been completed for their LFR design at the Passive Heat Removal Facility recently built at the Ansaldo Nuclear plant in Wolverhampton (UK). The work was performed under a contract within Phase 2 of the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) programme partially funded by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Under this contract, Ansaldo Nucleare led the design, purchase, installation and commissioning of two experimental facilities -the Versatile Loop Facility (VLF) and the Passive Heat Removal Facility (PHRF), which will collect experimental data supporting accelerated development of LFR technology. This will enable Westinghouse to test the feasibility of key LFR materials, systems and components.
Currently all these projects are in the conceptual and design stages with testing only taking place on non-nuclear components. To date, the only operating liquid metal-cooled fast reactors are in Russia, using sodium as the coolant. Russia is also constructing the world’s first lead-cooled small modular reactor (Brest-OD-300) in Seversk as part of a facility to demonstrate an on-site closed fuel cycle. This reactor, based on decades of complex research and development, and supported by the entire Russian nuclear industry, is due to begin operation in 2029.
