Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 7

Finally, although nuclear power has a stellar safety record, it
continues to be perceived by the American public as potentially
hazardous. The partial meltdown at the Fukishima plant in Japan in
2011 and the recent airing of the miniseries "Chernobyl" keep that
perception alive.
"The evidence is there that nuclear is one of the safest ways to
produce electricity," says Finan, "but everyone in the industry knows
that a nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere."
MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Despite these challenges, significant opportunities remain for
engineering firms in the nuclear market. There are still 59 plants
across the country and 97 operating reactors. And with the growing
number of plant retirements, decommissioning is a big business.
Sargent & Lundy was involved in the design of a large portion
of the domestic nuclear plants, but with the dearth of new
projects, the firm has been focusing its efforts supporting the
operating units.
"We are an 'Engineer of Choice' at 85 of the operating nuclear
units in the United States," Bianchini says. "Our bread and butter are implementing upgrades and refurbishments. Some of these
plants are 40 years old, and we can extend their life and efficiency
by installing new technologies." Other services the firm provides are
safety enhancements, cybersecurity, maintenance optimization to
reduce outage times and license renewal.
SNC-Lavalin, another firm involved in the market, recently
formed a joint venture company with Holtec to focus on decommissioning nuclear plants.
"Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI) specializes in accelerated decommissioning," says Sandy Taylor, nuclear
sector president at SNC-Lavalin. Using drones, robots, virtual
reality software, internally developed equipment and the decades
of project management experience from its two parent companies,
CDI "can bring a plant to its final state in 10 years versus leaving it
in safe mode for 50 years or more," according to Taylor.
CDI has already signed contracts to decommission the Oyster
Creek plant in New Jersey, the Pilgrim plant in Massachusetts and
the Palisades plant in Michigan.

U.S. Projected Electricity Generation by Nuclear Power
Year

(Billion Kilowatt Hours)

2017

805

2018

809

2019

797

2020

785

2021

762

2022

724

2023

697

2024

698

2025

672

Source: United States Energy Information Administration (EIA)

process to build the first SMR in the U.S. at the Department of
Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.
"NuScale expects to get approval in September 2020," Behringer
says. "It is progressing well with no showstoppers. That is a big
deal because it means the design will have been approved by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission for implementation, which will
provide assurance to international utilities that are interested in this
technology."
If everything proceeds on schedule, Behringer says the first NuScale 60 MW module of the 12module plant will come online in
2026, with the remaining modules in 2027, generating 720 MW of
electricity.
SNC-Lavalin is also looking at SMRs, but Taylor has reservations about their use in the U.S. "I do not think the U.S. will be the
place where SMRs are first deployed or ultimately take off," he says.
"Many other countries will move on SMRs before the U.S."
FUTURE PROJECTIONS

No one is predicting a short-term turnaround in the U.S. nuclear
power market, but proponents believe its eventual expansion is
inevitable.
"The potential is immense," Finan says. "It is clear that nuclear
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
can play a critical role in affordable decarbonization. There is no
Given the challenges facing the market, most analysts do not expect doubt that we need it and that it will contribute to reducing carto see any large-scale nuclear plant projects in the U.S. in the near
bon in the U.S. and globally."
term.
"Natural gas is the next coal," Taylor says, suggesting its nega"Never say never, but given the huge capital costs, it is unlikely," tive environmental impact will eventually become too much to
says Thomas Behringer, senior vice president, Sargent & Lundy.
bear. "Nuclear is starting to be recognized as a clean fuel. We still
Instead, many in the industry are banking on the development
have long-term waste issues that we have to deal with, but it is a
and commercialization of small modular reactors (SMRs). True to
long-term, carbon-free source of energy."
their name SMRs are small nuclear units-generating less than 300
He adds, however, that for nuclear power to flourish in the
MW. They are factory built and shipped to the site where they can U.S., the federal government will need to assume a bigger role.
be deployed individually or grouped together. They have applica"To take a new concept through to prototype scaling requires
tions for remote locations or can replace peaker plants in the grid.
amounts of money that typically exceed the capability of the pri"They are less expensive, easier to implement, eliminate a lot of
vate sector," he says. "It is going to be very difficult to get the next
equipment-both electrical and safety related-and most will be
generation of reactors into the market without some amount of
designed to shut down by themselves," says Behringer.
government support." n
Sargent & Lundy, along with Fluor, has invested in NuScale
Power, one of the first SMR developers. Each NuScale SMR modGerry Donohue is ACEC's senior communications writer. He can be
reached at gdonohue@acec.org.
ule is 60 MW in capacity. NuScale is in the midst of the approval
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

ENGINEERING INC.

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

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