GE Submits ESBWR to NRC for Design Approval

GE Energy's nuclear business has reached a major milestone in the development of its new reactor design - the economic simplified boiling water reactor (ESBWR) - by formally submitting its Design Certification application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

GE delivered its 19-chapter, 7,500-page application package to the NRC in Washington on August 24. The submission, which represents the culmination of 150,000 man-hours of design work over a 10-year period, should lead to the Final Design Approval of the ESBWR by late 2006, followed immediately by Design Certification.

The 1,500-megawatt ESBWR is a Generation III+ reactor design because of its design simplicity and passive safety features. It depends on fewer "active" mechanical systems, with associated pumps and valves, and instead relies on more reliable "passive" systems that utilize natural forces, including natural circulation and gravity.

The ESBWR is the only reactor that fully relies on natural circulation for normal plant operations as well as passive safety systems, thus making it the most advanced, passive Generation III+ reactor to be presented to the NRC for final approval.

"Submitting the ESBWR for formal design approval represents a truly significant accomplishment by GE Energy's engineering team that worked on this project, especially given the magnitude of the document and complex technical challenges," said Andy White, president and CEO of GE's nuclear business. "Many of our customers are already aware that the ESBWR is an extremely elegant design that offers all the benefits they require: safety, reliability and operational flexibility delivered with the most cost-effective advanced reactor design we can provide - one that is based on GE's proven BWR technology."

Back in May, GE inked an agreement with NuStart Energy to seek the license in connection with the consortium's efforts to site and build a new nuclear reactor. For more on the ESBWR, click here (PDF) for a fact sheet from GE. And click here for the Design Certification Application Review information from the NRC.

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