The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has granted a Site Use Permit to Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) to support the possible siting of a small modular reactor (SMR) project on the grounds of DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

The permit allows UAMPS, a wholesale electric energy provider, to access the site to analyze environmental, safety and siting conditions for its Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). As potential locations are identified on the INL site, those locations will be provided to DOE "to ensure that the use of such site would not conflict with INL mission work," the agency says.

“Small modular reactors are an important new step toward safe, reliable, carbon-free technology,” says Lynn Orr, DOE's Under Secretary for Science and Energy, adding that the agreement is part of the agency's "ongoing commitment to strengthening nuclear energy’s role in America’s low carbon future." According to DOE, the successful deployment of a small modular reactor design would provide U.S. utilities with a greater range of nuclear energy options to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases.

SMRs are a step toward "safe, reliable, carbon-free technology,” says DOE Under Secretary Lynn Orr. Image credit: DOE.Small modular reactors feature compact, scalable designs that DOE says could potentially supply low-carbon baseload energy to small electric grids and locations that cannot support larger reactors. The SMR design for the CFPP was provided by NuScale Power TM, of Portland, Oregon.

If UAMPS identifies a suitable area within the INL site for development of the CFPP that does not conflict with INL mission work, the design, construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of an SMR at the selected site would be licensed and inspected by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission following safety and environmental reviews.