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| Trade, Industry and Energy Second Vice Minister Park Il-jun, second from left, speaks during a meeting at Doosan Enerbility's hydrogen liquefaction plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. Yonhap |
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| Doosan Enerbility Chairman & CEO Park Gee-won / Korea Times file |
Doosan Enerbility, the energy affiliate of Doosan Group, is strengthening its small modular reactor (SMR) and liquefied hydrogen businesses, according to market watchers, Friday. SMRs are the next generation of nuclear reactors that are smaller and produce less output.
The Doosan affiliate said it signed a contract with NuScale Power, a leading U.S. entity specializing in SMR technology, to produce the first upper reactor pressure vessel (RPV) long lead material (LLM).
The material is essential to manufacturing the first NuScale power modules scheduled to be in commercial operation at a plant run by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems' Carbon Free Power Project as early as 2029.
The contract followed a review of SMR production viability followed by prototyping in 2019, a three-year joint effort that culminated in the Doosan affiliate signing an agreement to begin SMR production in April of last year. Also completed was the production of molding equipment needed to produce the material.
The two will begin the production of the vessels before the year's end after manufacturing generator tubes and welding materials.
The construction of the plant is scheduled for 2029. Six vessels each with a capacity of 77 megawatts (MW) will be built to generate a total of 462 MW of power.
"Finalizing and submitting this order to our valued partner, Doosan, showcases NuScale's transition to the manufacturing phase of our modules and highlights our advanced position in the market to deploy our SMR technology to customers by the end of the decade," said NuScale President and CEO John Hopkins.
"Our strong relationships with experienced partners like Doosan demonstrate NuScale's robust global supply chain and positions us to meet the growing interest for NuScale VOYGR power plants that we are seeing around the world."
Doosan Enerbility's nuclear business group head Kim Jong-doo expressed confidence that the joint cooperation will make strides in the global SMR industry.
"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently issued a final rule to certify NuScale's innovative SMR design, a testament to NuScale's status as the leading technology in the global SMR market," Kim said. "Doosan is proud to take part in the construction of a NuScale SMR which offers clean and carbon-free energy projects to tackle climate change."
The two firms are planning to manufacture additional modules for future SMR power plant projects.
The Doosan affiliate's hydrogen liquefaction is expected to grow, as bolstered by a government policy assistance package. Trade, Industry and Energy Second Vice Minister Park Il-jun visited its hydrogen liquefaction plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday, to attend a meeting of hydrogen business leaders. The vice minister pledged to outline a package to foster the market supply for the new green energy and research and development investments.
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