Commissioning of Holtec’s SMR-160 by 2030 deemed 'credible'

21 September 2021


Holtec SMR-160Holtec International’s Nuclear Advisory Council, during a bi-annual meeting in September said: “Having considered Holtec’s progress, the Council viewed Holtec’s hard date for commissioning its first set of SMR-160 plants in the US by 2030 as a credible target.”

The Holtec Advisory Council comprises nuclear technology and strategy executives from Entergy Nuclear, American Electric Power, Energy Harbor, Duke Energy, Exelon, Bruce Power, and Ontario Power Generation, as well as several consultant groups. 

The SMR-160 is a small modular pressurised light-water reactor, with a capacity of 160MWe (525MWth). The plant safety systems that access the SMR-160 cooling water reserve are passive, meaning they operate under the force of gravity to enable rejection of the waste heat generated from reactor operations.

In a key milestone for the advancement of the SMR-160, Holtec International submitted the first of five planned Topical Reports in December 2020 to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC). This report demonstrates the innate safety of the reactor under any credible loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA). 

Earlier in 2020, the SMR-160 completed Phase 1 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) “Pre-Licensing Review of a Vendor’s Reactor Design.” A Vendor Design Review (VDR) is an assessment service CNSC provides to nuclear power plant designers. Holtec is currently planning the next step in the Canadian design approval process.


Photo: Commissioning of the first set of Holtec SMR-160 plants by 2030 is a 'credible target'



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