Nuclear

Holtec teases out possible sites for SMR and ‘giga-manufacturing’ plant

Holtec teases out possible sites for SMR and ‘giga-manufacturing’ plant
Artist's concept of Holtec SMR. (Credit: Holtec International).

Holtec said that Entergy entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) under which the utility is excpected to evaluate the feasibility of deploying one or more SMR-160s on one or more of its existing sites within its service area.  

The utility said the small modular reactor could potentially help its meet its net-zero. Holtec’s domestic manufacturing capacity, balance sheet and performance in supporting Entergy’s operating fleet also factored in its decision.

In March, the U.S. Department of Energy approved the first part of Holtec International’s $7.4 billion loan application to build small modular reactors and invited the company to apply for a federal loan to help build four SMR-160s and to expand the company’s manufacturing capacity to build the first wave of nuclear reactors in large numbers.

Holtec submitted its final application on July 19. It included plans to expand the output capacity of an existing manufacturing plant in Camden, NJ, and establish a new factory to manufacture SMR-160s. It said the advanced manufacturing capabilities located in Camden will be enlarged with additional machining, robotic welding, and material handling equipment to increase the throughput of SMR-160 components to help meet a projected rise in demand over the next decade.  

It said the proposed “giga-manufacturing facility,” to be built at a yet-unidentified location, would be a larger version of the heavy fabrication plant at Holtec’s Camden technology headquarters.  

In addition to Entergy’s service area as a potential location, the loan application also mentions building the first SMR-160 at Holtec’s Oyster Creek plant site (purchased from Exelon in 2018) in New Jersey.  It said the new high-capacity manufacturing plant “will likely be located” in the region where the first SMR-160s is deployed.  

Holtec’s CEO, Dr. Kris Singh, said the stalled clean energy bill in Congress “remains critical for launching the rise of unconditionally safe SMR plants in the U.S.” Singh called on Congress to repeat the “great success story of solar energy” with new nuclear which holds an even greater promise for carbon mitigation.    

Holtec’s coordination with the DOE Loan Programs Office is being led by its wholly owned subsidiary, Holtec Government Services .

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