Panoramic view of Doosan Tower, the headquarters of Doosan Enerbility, located in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Provided by Doosan Enerbility.
Doosan Enerbility announced on the 29th that it has signed its first commercial reactor manufacturing contract with NuScale Power, a U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) developer.
Doosan Enerbility will be the first among SMRs whose designs have been approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to begin manufacturing a commercial reactor. Under this contract, Doosan Enerbility will be responsible for everything from supplying materials required for reactor manufacturing to producing key components.
Doosan Enerbility held a contract signing ceremony with NuScale Power for reactor manufacturing at its headquarters in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, on the same day. Under the contract, Doosan Enerbility will manufacture NuScale Power’s Upper Reactor Pressure Vessel (URPV) module. The URPV is the upper part of the pressure vessel that withstands the high temperatures and pressures inside the reactor and is a key facility ensuring the safe operation of the reactor.
Doosan Enerbility and NuScale Power have been cooperating in the SMR business since 2019. Doosan Enerbility signed a contract in 2023 with NuScale Power to supply materials required for reactor manufacturing, and with this contract it has now taken on full reactor manufacturing in addition to material supply.
However, it is reported that there were considerable difficulties before the contract was finalized. According to industry sources, as the contract continued to be delayed, Doosan Enerbility is said to have delivered an ultimatum to NuScale.
SMRs are reactors reduced in size compared with conventional large-scale nuclear power plants, characterized by the ability to manufacture major equipment in factories and then transport and install it at construction sites. Doosan Enerbility is expanding SMR equipment supply by leveraging its experience in manufacturing primary nuclear components and its production facilities.
With this contract, Doosan Enerbility is set to begin manufacturing key reactor facilities required for NuScale Power’s SMR projects. It plans to pursue securing additional manufacturing volumes in line with the progress of NuScale Power’s future projects.
Hwang So-young
AI-translated with ChatGPT. Provided as is; original Korean text prevails.
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