Serco completing prototypical test of Prodigy plant design
Canada's Prodigy Clean Energy and marine engineering firm Serco have announced they are close to completing a prototypical test programme demonstrating the robustness of Prodigy's Transportable Nuclear Power Plants to resist accidental and threat scenarios.
"The partnership with Serco is testing 360-degree layered countermeasures to secure the nuclear plant from air, land and water," Prodigy said.
Serco is testing the resilience and structural performance of Prodigy's Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPP) under the most challenging conditions, including against aircraft impact and ship collision; seismic, ice, and other severe weather and ocean events; fire and flooding; and for robustness to withstand internal and external physical threat scenarios, including missile impacts.
Partially funded by a CAD2.75 million (USD2 million) Government of Canada award to Prodigy under the Natural Resources Canada Enabling SMRs programme, the test programme aims to demonstrate how Prodigy's mitigating design measures keep safety systems intact and contain radioactive materials under emergency situations, even in remote and arctic deployment conditions.
"Developing a Prodigy TNPP is a complex exercise merging maritime fabrication, transport and site preparation practices, with requirements for civil nuclear construction and operation," Prodigy said. "This first-of-its-kind effort is generating critical data needed to support licensing and public engagement, as Prodigy prepares TNPPs to enter commercialisation by 2030."
Work performed by Serco is complemented by others such as Lloyd's Register, Kinectrics, Risktec and C-Job Naval Architects who are part of the Prodigy TNPP development consortium.
"Prodigy is completing the real work needed to bring TNPPs to market in North America on schedule," said Prodigy President and CEO Mathias Trojer. "Our technologies are now at a suitable level of readiness to engage sophisticated partners on detailed engineering exercises. Serco's world class expertise ensures that Prodigy achieves its top priority - that facilities operate safely and securely, safeguarding and protecting local communities and the environment."
Montreal-based Prodigy is developing two sizes of facilities: the Prodigy Microreactor Power Station TNPP and the SMR Marine Power Station TNPP, which can integrate different sizes and types of nuclear reactors. Prodigy says its Transportable Nuclear Power Plants are not barges with reactors onboard – they are purpose-designed, marine fabricated buildings qualified to house operating nuclear reactors. All systems and components are contained within the plant, reducing the need for additional land-based buildings. They are customisable from 1-1000 MWe gross output, and can be tailored for high-heat applications. The company is collaborating with Westinghouse to develop a Transportable Nuclear Power Plant featuring the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor.
Article researched and written by WNN's Warwick Pipe
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