TerraPower Announces Contract Awards for Natrium Vendors
August 1, 2023
TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company leading projects from research to reality, announced today the selection of four suppliers to support its Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project. The Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project is being developed in Kemmerer, Wyoming near a retiring coal plant.
These award selections help establish key elements of the supply chain that the advanced reactor industry will rely on as new reactors are brought to market. Nuclear power is key to providing the carbon-free, baseload energy that is necessary to meet clean energy targets and maintain grid stability.
“Throughout the process of bringing the Natrium Reactor and Energy Storage System to market, we have found that working with a diverse supply chain strengthens our ability to deliver a cutting-edge technology,” said Tara Neider, Senior Vice President and Project Director for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project. “The commercialization of advanced reactors relies on the support of experts from various industries, and we look forward to collaborating with these suppliers to build the Natrium reactor.”
The Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed. This innovative addition allows a Natrium plant to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources and leads to faster, more cost-effective decarbonization of the electric grid while producing dispatchable carbon-free energy.
Supplier awards include:
Western Service Corporation (WSC):
Western Service Corporation (WSC), of Fredrick, MD, will provide the software platform and engineering services for the Natrium Engineering Simulator.The complexity of advanced reactor designs requires Simulation Assisted Engineering (SAE), an approach that offers opportunities to integrate system functions and perform virtual commissioning in early stages. Development of an Engineering Simulator, which adopts detailed modeling and sophisticated computation, is a key component of the SAE approach. In support of the Natrium design, TerraPower is developing a Natrium Engineering Simulator that can simulate normal operation and plant protective functions, and WSC will provide services central to its development.
James Fisher Technologies:
James Fisher Technologies, based in Loveland, CO, is designing and building an injection casting furnace system that will be implemented in TerraPower’s Everett laboratory and will demonstrate the basic functionality of the injection casting process.
BWXT Canada, Ltd.:
BWXT Canada, Ltd. will design the Intermediate Heat Exchanger for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project. The Intermediate Heat Exchanger is a critical component which transfers heat from the primary sodium in the primary heat transport system to the intermediate sodium in the intermediate heat transport system. Successful design and fabrication of this component by BWXT Canada Ltd. is key to the planned achievements of the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project’s power generation.
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service, LLC:
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service, LLC (dba Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Division), headquartered in North Carolina, will develop the Reactor Protection System (RPS) for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project. The RPS performs important safety functions in accordance with regulatory requirements. This contract follows a phased approach including provision of a prototype system, planning and engineering support, prior to the detailed design, manufacture, testing and delivery of the RPS. Successful implementation of RadICS system by Curtiss-Wright is key to the successful delivery of the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project.
Future Request for Proposal (RFP) opportunities for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project can be found on TerraPower’s website: https://terrapower.com/suppliers/
The process of awarding contracts for the project is ongoing. TerraPower will continue to provide updates as additional contracts are awarded.
[1] The Natrium project is a TerraPower and GE-Hitachi technology