Nuclear Power

We are currently performing a significant amount of licensing, engineering, and design work for first-of-a-kind, small modular reactor (SMR) and advanced reactor (AR) projects. Our SMR and AR design capabilities and experience include:

• Standard plant design.
• Site-specific detailed design.
• Front-end engineering and design (FEED) projects.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing support, including early site permit and combined operating license application development.

We have a large engineering and design staff with SMR/AR functional and physical design capabilities and experience in the following areas:

We have experience with multiple 3D building information modeling (BIM) platforms for SMR/AR design, including Hexagon’s SmartPlant and AutoCAD Plant 3D.

Our recent SMR/AR engineering and design experience includes:

GEH BWRX-300
We have been working directly with General Electric Hitachi (GEH) since 2023 on the design and licensing of their tenth-generation boiling water reactor (BWR), a 300 MWe SMR. We are responsible for GEH’s reactor building standard plant design, which supports licensing efforts with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the NRC as well as construction cost estimates. This standard plant design will formulate the basis for future site-specific designs.

Clinch River Nuclear (CRN)
Since 2020, we have worked with TVA on the site-specific design and licensing for one or more SMRs for the Clinch River Site. We have served as TVA’s owner’s engineer, and we are currently performing early site works in preparation for the construction permit application (CPA) licensing and construction.

NuScale SMR
We’ve been working directly with NuScale since 2019 on the design and licensing of their six-module SMR. We were responsible for NuScale’s nuclear island standard plant design, which supports licensing efforts with the NRC and construction cost estimates.

Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP)
From 2020 to 2023, we worked on the site-specific design and licensing of a six-module NuScale SMR for the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) to be located at the Idaho National Laboratory. We were responsible for the nuclear island design.

SMR at Doicesti Site in Romania
Since 2023, we’ve worked on a FEED project for a six-module NuScale SMR for RoPower at the Doicesti site in Romania. We are responsible for the nuclear island design. The FEED project will result in a Class 3 cost estimate for the project.

X-energy Xe-100
Upon X-energy’s development of the Xe-100 SMR, we began providing site selection and environmental and licensing support, as well as quality assurance and 3D plant model expertise. Each unit of the SMR is designed to produce approximately 80 megawatts (MW) of electric power. Fuel for the Xe-100 units will come from the TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility (TFFF).

Microreactors
We’re involved with the potential applications of microreactors in several fields, including pharmaceuticals, district energy, and chemical synthesis. We’ve partnered with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), and Idaho National Lab on multiple studies, including the NuIDEA action plan outlining how nuclear energy could be a viable option to power highly efficient district energy heating and cooling systems.

We have been actively involved in the licensing and design of new nuclear power plants since 1954, starting with the design of the world’s first boiling water reactor at Argonne National Laboratory. We perform licensing, design, and onsite construction support activities for new generation, large-scale nuclear power plants capable of generating more than 1000 megawatts electric (Mwe).

Our engineering and design staff have extensive expertise in new generation nuclear power plant functional and physical design capabilities in the following areas:

Our recent new generation, large-scale nuclear power plant experience includes:

Westinghouse AP1000
In 2011, we began providing engineering, design, and project management support to Westinghouse Electric Power Company on AP1000 projects, both for standard plant and site-specific designs. Areas of support included structural engineering, piping analysis, and electrical engineering. We provided support from our own offices as well as from the Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 construction site.

Southern Nuclear Vogtle 3 and 4
In 2018, we began providing on-site support to Southern Nuclear at the Vogtle 3 and 4 construction site. Southern Nuclear, the owner of the site, has turned to us for support with project management, project controls, design authority turnover, field engineering, construction management, site-specific engineering, and modifications.

Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant APR1400
In 2010, we began providing consulting, engineering, and design services for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, located in the Al Dhafra region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The plant consists of four APR-1400 advanced pressurized water reactor units owned by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation. Our support has been provided through a combination of local (in-country) engineering resources and resources from our U.S. offices.

South Texas Project Toshiba Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
In 2007, we began licensing, engineering, design, and project management work at Toshiba’s ABWR to be built at the South Texas Project site, and we ultimately became the architect/engineer of record for the design of the nuclear island. We completed the standard plant design and transitioned to site-specific detailed design until March 2011, when the events at Fukushima Daichi led to the cancellation of the project.

Sargent & Lundy’s record of success in international power markets began in 1917, when the firm designed a 10-megawatt (MW) plant in Tocopilla, Chile, for the Chile Exploration Company. We now collaborate with governments and organizations worldwide to establish and design new nuclear power plants while adhering to rigorous safety standards and regulatory frameworks in design and licensing.

We specialize in the design and development of large-scale nuclear, including Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU), small modular reactor (SMR), and advanced reactor (AR) technologies. We also perform siting studies and technology assessments for foreign clients. With a commitment to providing safe, reliable, and sustainable solutions, we strive to meet the world’s growing energy needs while reducing carbon emissions.

As a global leader in the field of nuclear energy, our international presence continues to grow; our power industry project experience spans over 90 countries on five continents.

Our global resources include joint ventures with other world-class organizations to bring clients a full complement of extended services. We have allied with large, multi-faceted companies and smaller specialized firms that give us additional proven options for partnering with the right companies when multi-company collaboration is needed.

Our global services are facilitated through the efforts of our international joint venture resources in:

• Whitby and Kincardine, Ontario, Canada.
• Vadodara, India.
• Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Since 2010, we’ve provided consulting, engineering, and design services for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, four APR-1400 advanced pressurized water reactor units owned by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), through a combination of local (in-country) engineering presence and traditional support from our U.S. offices. Barakah’s site design is based on the Korean Reference Plant, or Shin-Kori site, which was designed and built by Korea Electric Power Corporation, also our client.

Sargent & Lundy is a leader in new nuclear generation licensing. We are involved in nearly all ongoing small modular reactor (SMR) and advanced reactor (AR) projects in the industry including siting and environmental work. Our licensing experts have prepared preliminary safety analysis reports and final safety analysis reports for more than 20 U.S. nuclear units. Our comprehensive client support also includes presentations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and responding to requests for additional information (RAIs). Our capabilities in licensing include development of early site permits, combined licenses, construction permits, and operating licenses.

We have developed the following license applications:

We are currently involved in the following applications:

• Construction permit application for TVA’s Clinch River SMR.
• Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) development for TVA’s Clinch River BWRX-300.
• Construction permit application for Eden Radioisotopes’ medical isotope facility.
• Construction permit application for Dow to construct an X-energy Xe-100 in Texas.
• Environmental report for Tennessee Valley Authority to support the construction permit application for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEHs) BWRX-300 SMR at Clinch River.
• Development of early site permit, construction permit, or COL application for two confidential clients.

We develop all parts of license applications, including:

• Environmental reports.
• Site safety analysis reports, preliminary safety analysis reports, final safety analysis reports.
• Emergency plans.
• Security plans.
• Limited work authorizations.
• Site redress plans.

We specialize in providing advanced reactor (AR) and small modular reactor (SMR) technical assessment and siting evaluation services to our clients to accompany our new reactor licensing support. With significant expertise in AR and SMR technologies, as well as in the licensing and environmental regulations governing site selection for nuclear power plants, we conduct comprehensive technical and siting evaluations that incorporate our clients’ needs and reduce regulatory risk so the appropriate technology and site can be pursued with confidence.

Technology Selection

Our expertise in AR and SMR design includes both light water reactors (LWRs) and generation IV reactors, such as high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), molten salt reactors (MSRs), and pebble bed reactors. We thoroughly evaluate the technical aspects of new reactor technologies, examining factors such as safety, performance, efficiency, operational feasibility, security, emergency

planning zone, defense in depth, first-of-a-kind, load following, modular design, construction, licensing, and more. Through our extensive experience in performing technical assessments, we have developed a proven methodology that makes sure our clients’ needs are considered and the appropriate new reactor technology is selected.

Site Selection

Since the evolution of modern environmental programs, we have conducted more than 50 power plant siting studies, both domestically and internationally. Site selection is a critical step in the development of any project, and a well-suited site can significantly decrease costs, increase public acceptance, and facilitate regulatory approval.

We perform all types of siting studies, including fatal flaws evaluation, site feasibility studies, site selection studies, and full site characterization studies. Our siting studies consider critical aspects such as water availability, topography, transportation access, land use, geotechnical characteristics, environmental sensitivity, population density, proximity to potential hazards, public opinion, and local politics. Our team of engineering, environmental, and economic engineers will ensure the site most suited for the application is selected and sites failing to meet basic siting criteria are eliminated.

Additionally, our site selection approach and reports set the stage for future phases, such as environmental impact assessments and other reports required by government agencies.

Sargent & Lundy is the leader in nuclear power digital modernization, having recently performed over 300 large digital upgrades. Our innovation-driven digital modernization and consulting (DM&C) specialists deliver cost-effective strategies that provide a common framework for our clients’ modernization initiatives. We work closely with our clients to support cradle-to-grave digital projects of all sizes to ensure our clients maximize their return-on-investment.

Digital Upgrade Design Capabilities and Qualifications

We maintain more than 300 processes spanning all aspects of digital modernization. Our staff includes experts in each of the following functional areas who serve as working members of industry code and standards committees:

Safety related and non-safety related digital modernization projects.

Strategic digital implementation risk-mitigation process.

Digital system programming and integration utilizing our instrumentation and control (I&C) digital instrumentation labs in multiple offices.

• Human factors engineering.
• Control room design.
• Digital licensing.
• Electromagnetic compatibility.
• Networking.
• Wireless communication.
• Cybersecurity.
• Software quality assurance.

Digital Modernization and Consulting

Our digital modernization and consulting (DM&C) professionals’ strategic work enables utilities to reduce initial capital project cost/risk, reduce ongoing operations and maintenance expenditures, leverage new technologies, incorporate latest industry lessons learned, and set strategic direction for digital modernization initiatives. Our DM&C capabilities include:

• Fleet/plant digital modernization implementation plan.
• Digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) license amendment requests.
• Control room modernization.
• Platform selection.
• Safety system optimization.
• 10 CFR 50.69 digital alternate treatments.
• Independent third-party reviews.
• Independent verification and validation.
• Requirements engineering.
• Data utilization/analytics.
• Digital system alternative analysis and feasibility studies.

Strategic Digital Expertise

For purposes of leveraging our vast digital upgrade experience to best support our clients, we have digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) strategy professionals drawing from the experience of all our offices and the full spectrum of utilities we support. Through a compilation of best practices, Sargent & Lundy supports our clients through standardized I&C services, including digital strategy consulting, vendor oversight, digital upgrade licensing, integration, independent third-party reviews, and implementation support.

Digital Instrumentation and Control Safety System License Amendment Requests

Sargent & Lundy is the recognized industry leader for digital licensing and protection system digital upgrades. Sargent & Lundy personnel led the industry team that worked with the NRC to develop DI&C-ISG-06, Revision 2, alternate review process (ARP), which provides a streamlined NRC licensing process for protection system replacement license amendment requests (LARs). Sargent & Lundy has a proven approach to ensure licensees maximize their investment. Our digital licensing services include:

• Pre-submittal meeting support.
• Technical specifications including surveillance requirement elimination.
• Authoring safety system LARs.

Sargent & Lundy has provided aging management program support at existing U.S. nuclear power plants for several decades. We have dedicated staff to develop license renewal applications (LRA) for clients with plants nearing the end of their current operating license. Our license renewal experts have developed a series of engineering guidelines to support license renewal work and participate actively in industry groups. Our capabilities include:

• Preparing the license renewal business case.
• Performing the integrated plant assessment.
• Evaluating time limited aging analyses (TLAA).
• Environmental review.
• Preparing license renewals and subsequent license renewal applications.
• Response to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requests for additional information.
• Annual updates of LRA or subsequent license renewal application (SLRA) during NRC review.
• Upgrades to existing authorized medical physicists and establishment of new programs.
• Implementation of the commitments related to the final NRC-approved LRA or SLRA.

We approach SLRs by working closely with the station’s licensing renewal team. We bring the analytical, engineering, and business expertise necessary to supplement the utility’s licensing effort. The SLR process can be broken down into three primary phases. We have the power plant experience and data to support each phase independently or while working closely with the utility’s team.

SLR licensing
In this phase, the NRC evaluates the adequacy of an application for license renewal by reviewing the effectiveness of the site aging management programs (AMPs) against the recommendations in NUREG-1801 “Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report” or NUREG-2191 “GALL-SLR Report.” Many utilities prefer using their own licensing group to prepare the application, however, we can prepare the application, work with the utility to review the application, and/or provide the analytical expertise to prepare technical reports including TLAAs, degraded conditions, the environmental report, and severe accident mitigation analyses.

Business case planning
To continue operating for an additional 20 years, plants are required to look 60 and 80 years ahead. Planning for equipment replacement is required for this period of extended operation. We have the power plant experience to properly forecast expected lifespan and obsolescence timeframes for major equipment and build a comprehensive capital project replacement plan that minimizes broke/fix maintenance and maximizes capital expenditures.

SLR implementation
SLR implementation is typically planned over a 10- to 15-year period. Capital projects should be carefully laid out across units or a fleet. We have the experience to plan, oversee cash flow, and effectively manage the design, procurement, N-1 / N-2 walkdowns, laser scanning, and staging of major capital projects. We have the full-service engineering staff and expertise to design the plant changes, develop the equipment staging and rigging plans, and provide the field engineering implementation support, commissioning, return-to-operations, and closeout.

We understand the importance of nuclear power in providing baseload carbon-free generation, as well as the need to optimize capital spending and reduce plant operating and maintenance costs to ensure the viability of the nuclear power industry long into the future. We have identified many opportunities for clients that can reduce recurring operations and maintenance costs.

Technical specification surveillances are a key contributor to ongoing maintenance costs, plant risk, and personnel burden. We have partnered with many clients aiming to reduce the burden these surveillances have on long-term operations and maintenance costs. For clients looking to modernize their plants, digital safety-related systems offer automatic and routine diagnostic capabilities that can be credited in lieu of surveillances, allowing our clients to eliminate or reduce surveillances. Our digital modernization and consulting experts have authored papers demonstrating savings for safety-related digital system upgrades and develop modernization strategies that focus on long-term operations and reduced costs.

We have a thorough understanding of NEI 04-10, “Risk Informed Method for Control of Surveillance Frequencies.” Our staff’s knowledge of the regulation, along with our plant-wide knowledge of the systems, design basis, and regulatory basis, makes us ideally suited to support surveillance frequency extension. We have performed both the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and deterministic aspects of the evaluations at several utilities, helping them extend their surveillance frequencies.

Our analysis team performing PRA work for surveillance frequency extensions also supports 10 CFR 50.69 analyses. We perform PRA and defense-in-depth engineering analyses and have procedures and processes in place to support customers in component categorization and the development of alternative treatments for 10 CFR 50.69.

Our dedicated licensing staff brings both expertise and a positive working relationship with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to our comprehensive licensing support. We continually interface with the NRC on our current projects. We support power uprate projects, generic safety issue (GSI-191) projects, general licensing amendment submittals, and independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) assignments, including 10 CFR 72.212 reviews and addressing crane licensing issues.

We perform major projects such as license renewals or development of license amendment requests (LARs) as well as support our core disciplines in routine modification package projects. We leverage our licensing experts to support 10 CFR 50.59 screening reviews and evaluations for complex modifications and to ensure our client’s licensing basis is maintained. We support LARs for our clients for many topics including power uprates, plant modifications, technical specification changes, including surveillance requirement elimination, changes to surveillance intervals, and refueling cycle changes.

Our additional services include:

We have dedicated staff exclusively committed to performing complex analyses. Our expertise covers all subject areas, including mechanical, electrical, structural, and radiological analysis. Our experience with system design and analysis, industry standards, and code committees allows us to deliver intricate technical solutions to our clients. Additionally, we maintain proficiencies with modern industry-recognized analytical tools and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-endorsed codes that are validated for nuclear safety-related applications.

Electrical

Our electrical analytical professionals exclusively perform complex electrical analysis to make sure client projects are properly implemented with modern advanced tools and technologies by providing our suite of analyses:

Mechanical

Our nuclear plant analysis (NPA) professionals exclusively perform complex mechanical and plant process analysis. Their expertise validates designs while protecting plant licensing bases. Types of analysis include:

Other

We have specialized staff in the areas of radiological and dose analysis, environmental qualification, seismic qualification, seismic analysis, and structural analysis who are dedicated to these highly specialized disciplines and perform the following types of analyses:

We perform licensing, engineering, and design work for first-of-a-kind medical isotope production facilities. Our capabilities and experience include:

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing support, including 10 CFR 52 construction and operating permits.
• Nuclear and environmental calculations.
• Conceptual balance-of-plant (BOP) system layout and design.
• Detailed design of ancillary structural systems and components.
• Pipe, electrical raceway, and HVAC support design.
• Detailed structural and architectural design, including seismic soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis and aircraft impact analysis.
• Onsite construction support.

We have performed engineering and design services for the following medical isotope projects:

SHINE Medical Isotope Facility
Our support for SHINE has included the design and licensure of a new medical isotope production facility. This first-of-a-kind facility will use neutron accelerators to turn low-enriched uranium, created by diluting former nuclear weapons, into medical isotopes such as molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). Mo-99 is the essential component in medical imaging procedures used to diagnose conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

In 2011, Sargent & Lundy started performing a variety of services, including NRC licensing support, nuclear and environmental calculations, conceptual BOP system layout and design, and detailed structural and architectural design for SHINE.

Eden Isotope Production Complex
We’re working with Eden Radioisotopes on the environmental review and licensure of a new medical isotope production facility planned for southeast New Mexico. This facility will use a reactor design developed by Sandia National Laboratory and licensed exclusively to Eden. Target radioisotopes are molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), used in medical diagnostic procedures, and lutetium-177 (Lu-177), used for treatment of certain cancers, among other nuclear medicines. The unique nature of the reactor allows for significantly more source material target exposure, thus producing and extracting vast quantities of Mo-99, Lu-177, and other products.

In 2020, we started performing a variety of services, including environmental report development and early conceptual work, to support upcoming licensing activities for NRC applications to construct and operate the new Eden facility.

We currently perform licensing, engineering, and design work for a first-of-a-kind fuel fabrication facility (FFF). Our capabilities and experience include:

• Front-end engineering and design (FEED) projects.
• FFF site-specific detailed design.
• Environmental report development in accordance with NUREG 1748.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing support, including construction permit/license application development.

We have a large engineering and design staff with functional and physical design capabilities and experience in:

We work with multiple 3D building information modeling (BIM) platforms for FFF design, including Plades and Hexagon’s SmartPlant.

Our expertise in nuclear facility licensing and design extends far beyond power plants. In addition to medical isotope facilities, our specialized staff supports the TRISO-X project from front-end planning and licensing to detailed design.

TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility Horizon Site
Since 2018, we have worked directly with TRISO-X, a wholly-owned subsidiary of X-energy, on the design and licensing of their currently-sized 5-MTU FFF. The facility is licensed and designed in accordance with 10 CFR 70 as a category II facility. We were responsible for site selection, site characterization, the environmental report, and the facility’s balance-of-plant (BOP) design which includes significant interface with TRISO-X’s integrated safety analysis, nuclear criticality, emergency plan, security plan, fire hazards and process, and construction management teams. We have also provided construction management support and developed an integrated project schedule and construction cost estimates for the project.

We leverage our expertise in design, licensing, and nuclear siting to support recycling spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. Recycling spent fuel turns a waste product into a nuclear energy asset, creating new fuel for existing nuclear reactors and advanced reactors.

Although recycling spent nuclear fuel has stalled in recent years, momentum is gaining for developing a “closed” nuclear fuel cycle, which would help address the long-term waste storage question. This momentum is being spurred by Department of Energy (DOE) support. Having been in nuclear power since its inception, our team has the experience to help develop new facilities for a fuel recycling nuclear facility. Our licensing and design approach is consistent with the strategies employed for new nuclear generation, medical isotope facilities, and fuel fabrication facilities.

Nuclear power generating stations provide safe, reliable, and carbon-free electricity. We’re committed to increasing the availability of that electricity in the communities our clients serve.

In selected markets, we can help our clients implement “behind-the-meter” (BTM) electricity delivery for high-demand and high-reliability applications. Using our expertise, clients connect new electric loads to the station’s generation output before a transmission service supplier meters the electricity. These upstream connections implement BTM applications to provide an alternative revenue stream to electricity sales. The new loads are planned to be metered separately and provide power directly from the generation company, rather than the local transmission provider’s system.

Our clients are positioned to provide BTM services through land leases and generator output interconnects. Potential industrial applications associated with BTM electricity include hydrogen generation, data centers, reverse osmosis, direct air capture, and artificial intelligence processing centers. We provide support for nearly all these applications.