Local nuclear company BWXT and the engineering corporation Bechtel shelved their mPower initiative — a collaborative program to develop small nuclear reactors — earlier this month.
The two companies formed Generation mPower LLC in 2011 to develop, market and deploy small nuclear reactors called Small Modular Reactors, or SMRs. Bechtel and BWXT wanted to market the SMR’s shorter start-up time and the capability for plants to activate several reactors to increase power generation capabilities over time, according to Bechtel spokesman Fred deSousa.
“Bringing a new reactor program through the design, engineering and regulatory process is a very complex and expensive proposition,” deSousa said. “It needed a plant owner with an identified location and an investor willing to wait a significant period of time for a return [on investment], and these were not available.”
