United States Nuclear Manufacturing Infrastructure Assessment

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This report provides a review and assessment of the existing U.S. infrastructure capabilities to manufacture on a commercial scale, the major components and unique materials required by the various U.S. designs for advanced nuclear reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs). The approach was to compare the needs of SMRs and advanced reactors against the capability of U.S. manufacturers to ascertain gaps that could inhibit U.S. industrial support for deployment of SMRs or advanced reactors. This report focused on the reactor plant designs being developed by NuScale Power (the NuScale Power Module), TerraPower (both the Traveling Wave Reactor and the Molten Chloride Fast Reactor to a limited extent), and X-energy (the Xe-100). To gather the information, MPR visited each of these companies and selected candidate suppliers to tour their facilities and conduct in-person interviews. Information was also obtained by telephone interviews, internet research, and literature review of technical reports. The overarching conclusion from this study is that the U.S. has existing capability or can readily develop capability to support and sustain most, but not all, aspects of commercial deployment of advanced reactors and SMRs. The greatest concerns for capability gaps in the U.S. infrastructure for supply of components for SMRs and advanced reactors are associated with reactor pressure vessels, steam generators, and fuel fabrication. Foreign vendors can supply reactor pressure vessels and steam generators. Issues with fuel fabrication are associated with uranium enrichment and development of fabrication methods for the innovative fuel concepts planned for advanced reactors. The technical capabilities of U.S. manufacturers appear satisfactory with the possible exceptions noted above. However, the capacity of the existing U.S. manufacturing infrastructure may be insufficient for a high rate of construction. Manufacturers contacted as part of this study indicated a willingness to expand capacity if sufficient orders are in place. The review of U.S. infrastructure included a detailed review of capabilities in many different processes including forging, tube drawing, machining, fabrication, and testing. In addition, MPR researched the advanced manufacturing processes for additive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) and powder metallurgy - hot isostatic pressing. Reactor plant designers and candidate suppliers are planning to rely on traditional processes for the initial plants. If advanced manufacturing processes are developed and accepted by the nuclear industry, these processes may be used in the future. In the immediate term, ongoing research (much of which is funded by DOE) is necessary to develop and refine advanced manufacturing methods. This report includes several recommendations for DOE that will advance deployment of SMRs and advanced reactors from a manufacturing perspective and other areas identified during the course of this project.