Company designing next generation reactor gets assistance from PNNL

Lab will help guide quest for regulatory approval of design

News Brief

June 30, 2017

• Susan Bauer, PNNL, (509) 372-6083

RICHLAND, Wash. - Columbia Basin Consulting Group, based in Kennewick, Wash., is developing a lead bismuth-cooled fast reactor concept. With new backing from the D.O.E., they will draw on nearby Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's extensive experience working with liquid metal-cooled fast reactors as well as its knowledge of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing processes.

DOE's Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear - or GAIN - voucher plan provides advanced nuclear technology innovators with access to the extensive nuclear research capabilities and expertise accessible across the D.O.E. national laboratories.

PNNL will provide technical guidance to CBCG, which was selected along with 13 other small businesses, to gain vouchers worth a total of approximately $4.2 million to accelerate innovation in advanced nuclear reactor technologies. This is the 2nd year of the voucher funding. CBCG and PNNL successfully partnered in a similar plan supporting CBCG's lead-bismuth initiative in the 1st round of backing last year.

This plan focuses on developing criteria for the design of reactor containment structures. Unlike the current fleet of reactors that operate a high pressures, , the lead bismuth cooled fast reactor being developed by CBCG would operate at near atmospheric pressure and has many additional inherent safety features. Therefore, the regulatory criteria for containment buildings associated with the current reactor fleet may not be appropriate for this new design. PNNL is helping CBCG conduct analyses for consideration by the NRC as the agency develops regulatory infrastructure for the licensing of the next generation of reactors.

Read more about the GAIN voucher program.

Tags: Energy, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Nuclear Power, Licensing

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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