The Evolutionary Power Reactor

The latest nuclear power plant design to enter the race for the first next generation plant in the the U.S. was announced by Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and Electricite de France (EdF). The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which they have agreed to work together toward an agreement allowing EdF to provide assistance to Constellation Energy as part of the development of the U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR). Edf is the operator and developer of the first EPR in France.

"The EPR is the only generation three plus advanced reactor design actually under construction in the world today," said George Vanderheyden, senior vice president of Constellation Generation Group.

The U.S. EPR is a 1,600 megawatt reactor designed for America by AREVA, Inc. (the world leader in nuclear power design and manufacturing).  It is a standardized, advanced design derived from the EPR nuclear reactor currently being built in Europe. The first EPR, under construction at Olkiluoto, Finland, is scheduled to commence operations by 2009. The second, in Flamanville, France, was approved by EdF in May and is scheduled for completion in 2012.

The EPR currently has pre-certification status in the U.S.  Pre-certification represents a vendor's intention to proceed toward commercialization in the U.S. and perhaps globally. The French designed has recently moved to pre-certification.

The EPR is a conventional, though advanced, pressurized water reactor (PWR) in which components have been simplified and considerable emphasis is placed on reactor safety. The EPR would be the largest design now under consideration in the United States. Some redesign would occur for the U.S. market. AREVA (formerly Framatome) had earlier indicated that U.S. certification for the EPR would occur after European development proceeded.  This decision has since been made and the U.S. utility Duke Power is evaluating the EPR, along with the AP1000 and ESBWR, for a construction and operating license (COL) application process that began during 2005.

The approach taken to this design differs considerably from the AP1000, ESBWR and PBMR in that it does not depend on passive safety nearly as much, rather on extremely good design based on experience.  The design is an evolution of previous successful PWR's with an emphasis on safety through the use of redundancy, more rugged designs, proven material selection and improved monitoring and control logic. Larger volumes for water and steam provide greater latitude in terms of control response and safety margins. This results in "improved surveillance for detection of anomalies and means of action for mitigating the consequences of failures and preventing core melt down."

An extremely detailed brochure describing the EPR can be found here.

Constellation Energy and Electricite de France Sign Memorandum of Understanding Related to U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor, Press release, June 1, 2006

Comments

[Whitehall]

As a competitor to the EPR, I've had a closer look than many. One can certainly offer criticisms of the EPR design approach. The specifics are still being decided as design is ongoing.

One point is the over-reliance on multiple redundant active safety systems. One reaches a point of declining returns and these are the most expensive systems in the plant both for hardware and space.

Plus, they intend to use diverse hardware vendors for redundant systems. Where a US LWR might have three redundant subsystems from one vendor, EPR would have four and all from different vendors. Think of the O&M costs involved in training, tooling, and spares X4.

Overall, I suspect that the marginal safety benefits will not be economically justified in competitive electric markets. Remember that EPR is designed for government monopoly owners in Europe.

Aveda's biggest advantage in the US is plant capitalization from the French government, ie lower interest rates and French subsidies.

[amazingdrx]

Looks like more of the same: dangerous, heavily subsidized, incredibly expensive, soaring fuel costs, no answer to the waste problem..and french !?! The country the nut wing loves to hate?

And now we find that the plant that makes fuel for nukes has contaminated the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers with plutonium in the groundwater!!!!

"A uranium processing plant in Paducah, Ky., spread plutonium farther around the facility than was previously known and even contaminated ground water in the area, according to newly released documents.
Maps drawn last summer but not released to federal investigators reveal that plant officials had taken hundreds of measurements over 10 years showing plutonium in soil and water more than a mile from the plant's fence. Most disturbing was the discovery of elevated levels of the highly dangerous metal in dozens of ground-water tests.

The results of these tests suggest that government contractors knew far more about the extent of the contamination than was previously acknowledged, and the spread of plutonium was much more extensive than Energy Department officials reported after an investigation last fall." (Washington Post, Oct 1, 2000) emphasis added

http://www.sprol.com/?p=43

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