Terrestrial Energy Informs USNRC of IMSR Licensing Plans

Terrestrial Energy USA announces that the Company has informed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“USNRC”) of its plans to license a small modular, advanced nuclear reactor in the United States.

TEUSA intends to commence pre-application interactions with the USNRC in 2017, a process which will lead to an IMSR400 Design Certification application in accordance with 10 CFR Part 52, or a Construction Permit in accordance with 10 CFR Part 50. TEUSA intends to make its licensing application to the agency in late 2019.

TEUSA included in its letter to the USNRC, the status of the design, analyses, testing, licensing, and project planning for the TEUSA Integral Molten Salt Reactor (“IMSR™”), a liquid-fueled, high-temperature, 400 Megawatt-thermal (“MWth”), Advanced Reactor power plant design.

TEUSA recognizes that the USNRC is developing a specific licensing framework for Advanced Reactor designs. The Company has confidence in the capability of the USNRC to review and reach safety, security, and environmental findings on the IMSR™ design, in a timely manner.

Simon Irish, CEO of TEUSA commented, “This is a very exciting time for the nuclear power industry. We are moving forward with the design and regulatory actions needed to allow the Company to bring the IMSR™ to market in the 2020s. The IMSR™’s design choices will result in an Advanced Reactor that delivers clean, cost-competitive and high-grade industrial heat. This capability can serve the many and varied heat requirements of industry, and as well as those of the electric power sector where the IMSR™’s dispatchablity will be greatly prized.”

The Company is currently examining four sites for its first commercial plant. These sites include the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), near Idaho Falls, ID, as well as additional sites east of the Mississippi River. In all cases, TEUSA has begun to investigate the commercial prospects for an IMSR™ power plant for both electric-power and industrial heat co-generation.

Source: Terrestrial Energy