"We’re looking at a fleet of SMRs. We have no interest in building a few and walking away" [View all]

[FBaggins]

[Center]SMR Alliances go for $452M In DOE gold
Four consortiums line up but only two can win[/center]

They are vying for a piece of the U.S. Department of Energy’s $452 million cost-shared funding program for licensing and engineering support to develop small modular reactors, e.g., less than 300 MW.

DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary John Kelly told the conference that it was taking place on the day the proposals were due. “Your work is ending,” he said. “Ours is just beginning.” Kelly committed to making an award to one or two firms by the end of September and having the funds in the hands of the winner(s) by the end of the year.

And Kelly made a sweeping promise to the group about how the DOE money would impact market acceptance of SMR technology. “We’re looking at a fleet of SMRs. We have no interest in building a few and walking away.”

A panel of energy economists who spoke at the conference thinks a fleet is feasible. Stanford University’s Geoffrey Rothwell said that the cumulative effect of jumpstarting the industry now is that the U.S. could be building the equivalent of as many as 14 100-MW SMRs every year by 2030 for domestic energy production and export.

http://djysrv.blogspot.com/2012/05/smr-alliances-go-for-452m-in-doe-gold.html

The final two paragraphs are interesting. One vendor is reportedly offering DOE a "money back guarantee" if it fails to gain a license