Joint European Canadian Chinese development of Small Modular Reactor Technology
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Nuclear energy has an important role to play in the effort to reduce dependence on the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity. Nuclear reactor designs are categorised according to ‘generation’, with Generation IV being currently under development and deployment. An international task force is collaborating to develop six nuclear reactor technologies for deployment between 2020 and 2030, among them the supercritical water-cooled reactor. One of the main challenges is the demonstration of its passive safety systems. The EU-funded ECC-SMART project is addressing this challenge by assessing the feasibility of a small modular reactor cooled by supercritical water and identifying its passive safety features. The project encompasses the design and pre-licensing requirements as well as a roadmap for demonstration of safety.
The ECC-SMART is oriented towards assessing the feasibility and identification of safety features of an intrinsically and passively safe small modular reactor cooled by supercritical water (SCW-SMR), taking into account specific knowledge gaps related to the future licensing process and implementation of this technology. The main objectives of the project are to define the design requirements for the future SCW-SMR technology, to develop the pre-licensing study and guidelines for the demonstration of the safety in the further development stages of the SCW-SMR concept including the methodologies and tools to be used and to identify the key obstacles for the future SMR licencing and propose strategy for this process.
Project beneficiaries from Ukraine:
- IPP CENTRE LLC
Project coordinator:
- CENTRUM VYZKUMU REZ SRO (CZECHIA)
Project description on EU web-site: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/945234
