Safety concerns raised over NuScale SMR project
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Members of the scientific community are voicing concern after the NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project received design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week.
Dr. Edwin S. Lyman, the director of Nuclear Power Safety Union of Concerned Scientists, says the SMRs have fundamental design flaws, that could become dangerous. In fact, in a press release this morning, he sited a non-concurrence report published by a nuclear engineer within the NRC.
In the report Dr. Shanlai Lu claims there is an issue with the "boron dilution" process, a backup reactor cooling process. He says that if it were to fail it would result in "catastrophic core damage."
In a statement, Nuscale's Dianne Hughes says, "NuScale and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff examined boron dilution in great detail and reached similar conclusions that the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) design is safe and meets all requirements as is affirmed by NuScale’s recent issuance of the Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER)."
