Westinghouse推出小型模塊化核反應堆

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Westinghouse unveils small modular nuclear reactor

Thu, May 4, 2023 at 2:16 p.m. GMT+1

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. company Westinghouse unveiled plans on Thursday for a small modular reactor to generate virtually emissions-free electricity that could replace coal plants or power water desalinization and other industries.

Rita Baranwal, the Westinghouse Electricity Co's top technology officer, said the reactor, dubbed AP300 for its planned 300 Megawatt capacity, will not use special fuels or liquid metal coolants unlike some other next-generation reactors.

It will be a smaller version of its AP1000 reactor, several of which are operating in China, and which are ramping up in Georgia at the Vogtle plant, after years of delay and billions of dollars over budget.

Despite hurdles for new nuclear, Baranwal was confident. "We've kept it simple, designed it on demonstrated and licensed technology, and I think that's one of the advantages that we have with this concept," she told Reuters in an interview. Westinghouse, owned by Brookfield Business Partners, plans to start constructing the reactor by 2030 and have it running by 2033.

Small modular reactors (SMR) are meant to fit new applications such as replacing shut coal plants and being located in more remote communities. President Joe Biden's administration believes that maintaining existing nuclear plants and developing next-generation reactors is crucial for its goal of decarbonizing the economy by 2050.

So far the design for only one SMR, planned by NuScale Power Corp, has been approved by U.S. regulators and it still needs permits.

Westinghouse did not reveal how much the first reactor would cost, but said later units would cost about $1 billion. The company, based in western Pennsylvania, has had informal talks with parties in neighboring states Ohio and West Virginia about the potential building of AP300s at former coal plants.

Westinghouse also hopes to sell reactors to countries in eastern Europe, even though nuclear power critics have expressed concerns that developers and governments should think carefully before building new nuclear plants anywhere near the region. They noted that Russia took the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the site of repeated shelling.

Baranwal said Russia's actions have made countries motivated to become more energy independent and the AP300 will be passively safe because it does not need power supply or human intervention for 72 hours in the event of an incident.

Westinghouse also sees potential customers in sub-Saharan Africa, which could bring electricity for the first time to some areas.

The company is not sure yet whether the technology can be exported to China, where the first AP1000s began operations in 2018. That year, former President Donald Trump's administration issued restrictions on exports of nuclear technology newer than the AP1000 due to nuclear proliferation concerns.

Baranwal said if the U.S. government deems AP300 to be a subset of the earlier reactor technology "then we can start entertaining the possibilities" of exporting it to China.

Translation

華盛頓（路透社） - 美國 Westinghouse 公司週四公佈了一個小型模塊化反應堆的計劃，該反應堆可以產生幾乎無排放的電力，可以取代燃煤電廠, 或海水淡化和其他行業。

Westinghouse 電力公司的首席技術官 Rita Baranwal 表示，該反應堆因其計劃的 300 兆瓦容量而被稱為 AP300，與其他一些下一代反應堆不同，它不會使用特殊燃料或液態金屬冷卻劑。

這將是其 AP1000 反應堆的較小版本，其中幾個反應堆在中國運行，並且在經過多年的延遲和數十億美元的預算超支後，正在格魯吉亞的 Vogtle 工廠進行擴產。

儘管新核能存在障礙，Baranwal 仍然充滿信心。 她在接受路透社採訪時說： “我們一直保持簡單，根據經過驗證和許可的技術進行設計，我認為這是我們在這個概念上的優勢之一。” Brookfield Business Partners 旗下的 Westinghouse 公司計劃在 2030 年前開始建造反應堆，並在 2033 年前投入運行。

小型模塊化反應堆 (SMR) 旨在適應新的應用，例如更換已關閉的燃煤電廠和用於位於更偏遠的社區。 拜登總統的政府認為，保養現有的核電站和開發下一代反應堆, 對其到 2050 年實現經濟脫碳的目標至關重要。

到目前為止，由NuScale Power Corp 計劃的SMR 的設計, 只有一個已獲得美國監管機構的批准，但仍需要獲得許可証。

Westinghouse 沒有透露第一個反應堆的造價，但表示以後的裝置將耗資約 10 億美元。 該公司總部位於賓夕法尼亞州西部，已與隔鄰俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亞州的各方, 就在以前的燃煤電廠位置建造 AP300 的可能性進行了非正式會談。

Westinghouse 還希望向東歐國家出售反應堆，儘管核能批評者表達關著, 表示開發商和政府在該地區附近的任何地方建造新核電站之前應該仔細考慮。 他們指出，俄羅斯佔領了烏克蘭扎波羅熱核電站, 它受多次砲擊。

Baranwal 表示，俄羅斯的行動使各國有動力變得更加能源獨立，AP300 將是被動安全的，因為它在發生事故時 72 小時內不需要供電或人為干預。

Westinghouse 還在撒哈拉以南非洲看到了潛在客戶，這可能會首次為某些地區帶來電力。

該公司尚不確定該技術是否可以出口到中國，首批 AP1000 已於 2018 年在中國開始運營。那一年，出於核擴散擔憂，前總統特朗普政府發布了比 AP1000 更新的核技術出口限制。

Baranwal說，如果美國政府認為 AP300 是早期反應堆技術的一個部份， “那麼我們就可以開始考慮” 將其出口到中國的可能性。

So, Westinghouse Electricity Co. says that its reactor, dubbed AP300, will be a smaller version of the AP1000 reactor. Westinghouse believes that Russia's aggression in Ukraine has made countries moved towards become more energy independent and the AP300 will be passively safe because it does not need power supply or human intervention for 72 hours in the event of an incident. It seems that AP300 will have good potential in attracting customers in the energy production market.