OPG firm joins UK BWRX-300 project

SGE SMR UK is the UK-based project company of Poland's SGE (formerly Synthos Green Energy). Earlier this year, SGE outlined plans for the privately financed deployment of 14 GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactors across three sites in the UK, for which it submitted an application under the UK's Advanced Nuclear Framework. 

The proposed joint venture will see SGE SMR UK and Origin Nuclear work together to establish a UK-based nuclear operating company. Origin Nuclear - whose owner, Canadian nuclear operator Ontario Power Generation (OPG), is developing the first BWRX-300 reactor at Darlington in Ontario - will support the licensing process, commissioning and operational readiness of the reactors, and will also be responsible for plant operations, and centralised support services across the proposed UK BWRX-300 fleet.

"This is a significant step forward for our UK programme," SGE CEO Rafał Kasprów said. "Securing an operating partner is one of the most important decisions in developing a nuclear project, and with Origin Nuclear and its parent company OPG, we have a partner backed by more than a half century of nuclear experience and direct involvement in the first BWRX-300 project in Canada. It gives us greater confidence in our ability to deliver 14 reactors across three sites in the UK. Just as importantly, it brings us closer to establishing a long-term operating model that can support BWRX-300 projects across Europe."

"The Darlington New Nuclear Project, where OPG has begun construction of the first BWRX-300, will deliver the reliable, low-carbon electricity Ontario needs to meet rapidly growing demand, while creating opportunities for Origin Nuclear and other Ontario companies to showcase our expertise on the global stage," said Jos Diening, Origin President and CEO. "As OPG builds the next generation of nuclear infrastructure at home, Origin is helping position Ontario's world-class supply chain to compete for opportunities around the world."

_{Rafał Kasprów and Jos Diening at the signing ceremony (Image: SGE)}

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor design and its existing, licensed GNF2 fuel design. SGE is a co-investor in the standardised BWRX-300 design alongside GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, OPG and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). 

The unit under construction in Canada is envisaged as the first of four at OPG's Darlington New Nuclear site. In September, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit to TVA for a BWRX-300 reactor at the Clinch River site in Tennessee. 

The first site in the UK is planned to accommodate six BWRX-300 reactors, with the first unit starting commercial operation in 2034. This would be followed by two further multi-unit sites - an approach SGE says is intended to support repeat construction, coordinated procurement and the transfer of experience between projects. The programme is supported by an international delivery team comprising SGE, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, Laing O'Rourke, Aecon Group Inc, Fermi Development and Etara. 

The proposed total generating capacity from the 14 units of 4.2 GW would be enough, SGE says, to meet around 11% of UK power demand, equivalent to the needs of almost eight million homes, for at least 60 years.