SSR APPLIED - Automated Power Plants: Intelligent, Efficient, and Digitized

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Program:
GEMINA
Award:
$4,618,868
Location:
Wilmington, Delaware
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
04/01/2021 - 03/31/2025
Website:

Critical Need:

Although nuclear power is one pathway to achieving a zero-carbon grid, nuclear power plants are comparatively cost-intensive in some markets. Many industries are employing AI, advanced data analytics, distributed computing, powerful physics simulation tools, and other breakthroughs to advance autonomous, efficient, and low-cost O&M in their processes. O&M is approximately 80% of a reactor’s total generating cost. The nuclear energy industry has not fully explored these innovations, necessitating new designs of effective and low-cost advanced reactor O&M procedures. Knowledge gained from innovating now can lay the groundwork for optimal O&M. GEMINA sets the stage for advanced reactors to operate with a staffing plan and fixed O&M costs more akin to those of a combined cycle natural gas plant than those of the legacy light-water reactor fleet.

Project Innovation + Advantages:

Moltex Energy will develop a multi-physics plant digital twin environment for its Stable Salt Reactor - Wasteburner (SSR-W). SSR‑W is a low overnight-capital plant design, targeting a <$2/kWe build cost. The first-of-a-kind (FOAK) plant uses contemporary approaches to nuclear power plant design and may be encumbered with conventional O&M obligations. The digital twin will be used to evaluate proposed O&M improvements for the SSR-W and empower the FOAK operator to better predict faults and execute remedial actions. A non-nuclear separate effects test loop will support the digital twin development to validate models and address larger uncertainties in flow conditions. By further reducing the SSR-W O&M levelized cost of energy contribution from a current ~$11/MWh to a proposed $1.75/MWh, the potential for transformative energy cost reduction is significant.

Potential Impact:

The program goal is to reduce fixed O&M costs from ~13 $/MWh in the current fleet to ~2 $/MWh in the advanced fleet. Benefits include:

Security:

Establishing U.S. advanced reactor technological leadership and improving U.S. energy security with safe, reliable, dispatchable power for a robust and resilient electric power system;

Environment:

Reducing energy-related emissions with a competitive, carbon-free electricity source; and

Economy:

Increasing productivity and creating a competitive edge for advanced reactors.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Robert Ledoux
Project Contact:
Alex DeLorey
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
alexdelorey@moltexenergy.com

Partners

Argonne National Laboratory

Related Projects

• Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) - Maintenance of Advanced Reactor Sensors and Components (MARS)
• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) - Build-to-Replace: A New Paradigm for Reducing Advanced Reactor O&M Costs
• Framatome - Digital Twin-Based Asset Performance and Reliability Diagnosis for the HTGR Reactor Cavity Cooling System Using Metroscope
• General Electric (GE) Global Research - AI-Enabled Predictive Maintenance Digital Twins for Advanced Nuclear Reactors
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - High-Fidelity Digital Twins for BWRX-300 Critical Systems
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Generation of Critical Irradiation Data to Enable Digital Twinning of Molten-Salt Reactors
• Moltex Energy - SSR APPLIED - Automated Power Plants: Intelligent, Efficient, and Digitized
• University of Michigan - SAFARI: Secure Automation For Advanced Reactor Innovation
• X-Energy - Advanced Operation & Maintenance Techniques Implemented in the Xe-100 Plant Digital Twin to Reduce Fixed O&M Cost

Release Date:
10/02/2019