Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Two years after it issued a final safety evaluation report for NuScale's 50 MW small modular reactor (SMR), the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced it is in the process of finalizing that approval into a formal design certification. NuScale hopes the design certification will help accelerate a subsequent review of its 77 MW design, currently planned for its prospective first-of-a-kind plant in Idaho, and it's opted for a less rigorous review procedure than the process used for the 50 MW design. Some safety experts question that choice given the size of the uprate and unresolved safety concerns about the SMR's steam generator, and it's unclear how much, if any, difference it will make to the review timetable.
