NuScale plan for small modular reactor in Idaho clears regulatory hurdle

NuScale began life as a spinoff company based on research conducted by Oregon State University professor Jose Reyes. (NuScale Power photo)

NuScale Power's plans for a small modular reactor west of Idaho Falls has cleared another regulatory hurdle, as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed the first and most intensive phase of review for the company’s design certification application.

This is the first and only SMR application to ever undergo NRC review. The NRC is expected to certify NuScale’s design, and the company’s first customer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems -- of which Idaho Falls Power is a member -- is planning a 12-module SMR plant to be in operation by the mid-2020s.

“We are thankful for the rigorous review of our revolutionary nuclear design and greatly appreciate the government recognizing the importance of furthering NuScale’s advancement,” said the company's power chairman and chief executive officer, John Hopkins. “Our technology means significant economic and job benefits for the country and it’s positioned to revitalize the domestic nuclear industry by virtue of NuScale’s affordable, flexible, and safe solution to providing zero-carbon energy.”

During the 115,000 hours the NRC spent reviewing the application, it issued far fewer requests for additional information compared to other DCAs, validating in NuScale's view the simplicity of the design and quality of the application.

On a separate but related front, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced Friday it was awarding NuScale $40 million in cost-sharing financial assistance. The federal award supports early-stage research and development and the industry’s embrace of these technologies, with the stated goal of promoting U.S. energy independence, electricity grid resiliency, national security, and clean baseload power.

Headquartered in Portland, Ore., NuScale, majority-owned by Fluor Corp., has already received more than $200 million in federal support. The $40 million award announced Friday, the lion's share of $60 million doled out under the DOE’s new "U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology" program, comes with an equivalent cost share.

In a Portland Business Journal story, NuScale Director of Communications Mariam Nabizad said the company has "commitments from private investors to cover the NuScale $40 million portion of the DOE award." She added that the company "looks to continue to seek additional investment beyond our DOE cost share award to provide the funding to complete our commercialization program."

In a Bloomberg story earlier this month, "First Small-Scale Nuclear Reactor May Be Just Eight Years Away," CFO Jay Surina said NuScale was looking for "deep-pocketed" individuals who could provide it up to $120 million in equity investment.

Freddy's gets new chief for Idaho restaurants

Eric Stine

Eric Stine of EMS Management will be the new principal in charge of the Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers locations in Idaho. Idaho's first Freddy's opened in 2014 in Meridian, and the chain has since expanded to Nampa, Idaho Falls, Caldwell, Chubbuck and Eagle. Stine is also part of the management team for the restaurant in Rexburg.
 
“Our focus is on high-quality food, genuine hospitality and maintaining a clean and comfortable atmosphere for guests of all ages,” Stine said.

Stine's was the first general manager at the first Freddy's location in Wichita, Kansas. His management team has more than 25 years of combined experience.

“We strive to provide fast, friendly service and premium quality food,” said Stine. “With the recent closing of our Boise location and Caldwell's restaurant being put up for lease, we are dedicated more than ever to building our Freddy's restaurants to be the place all our guests want to go. We want to be more than just another place to eat in the community by becoming familiar with our guests and their stories.”

Co-founded in 2002 by Scott Redler and Bill, Randy and Freddy Simon, Freddy’s opened its first location in Wichita. Today, 300 Freddy's restaurants serve 31 states across the nation from California to Pennsylvania, Virginia and down the East Coast states to Florida. Freddy’s has been named Franchise Times magazine’s 2018 Fast & Serious top 10, Entrepreneur’s 2018 Franchise 500 top 50, Inc. Magazine’s “Fastest-Growing Private Companies” 2017 list and many other nationwide and local industry awards.

INL honors inventors, achievements in 2017

Idaho National Laboratory held its annual Laboratory Director Awards reception Friday night in Idaho Falls, honoring outstanding research and development accomplishments in support of INL’s mission and highlighting achievements from 2017, including 20 newly issued patents and six copyright assertions.


"2017 was a year of achievement and success at INL, thanks to our dedicated employees," INL Laboratory Director Mark Peters said. "Tonight's ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate those achievements and express our gratitude. Congratulations to this year's winners, and to our entire workforce for what was truly a memorable year. I appreciate everyone's passion and hard work."

Rick Demmer, Harry Rollins and Robert Mariani were inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame at the five-patent level. Douglas Akers and Kevin Gering were inducted at the 10-patent level. 


The 2017 award recipients were:


• Community Award: Mary Adamic

• Inclusive Diversity Award: Theron McGriff

• Leadership Award: Eric Dufek

• Mission Advancement: Partnership and Collaboration Award: Consequence-driven, Cyber-informed Engineering Team: Curtis St. Michel, Robert Smith, Sarah Freeman, Amanda Belloff, Roya Gordon, Kara Turner, Jeffrey Klingler

• Mission Enabling Individual Award: Gregory English

• Mission Enabling Team Award: Advanced Test Reactor Electrical Upgrade Team: Scott Despain, Michael Corbridge, Benjamin England, Russ Howard

• Laboratory Award for Early Career Exceptional Achievement: Aaron Craft

• Laboratory Award for Exceptional Engineering Achievement: Craig Rieger

• Laboratory Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement: Masashi Shimada

• Laboratory Award for Individual Lifetime Achievement in Science and Technology: Stephen G. Johnson

• Inventor of the Year Award: Hussein Moradi

• Research and Development Technician of the Year Award: James Milloway, Byron White

• Operations Technician of the Year Award: Jordan Cox, Tiffany Schorzman

• INL Vision Award: Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory Team: Emil Franklin, Aaron Balsmeier, Noel Duckwitz, Jeffery Bailey, Jayson Bush

• INL Vision Award: No-Idle Motor Coach Team: Ira Pray, Jeffrey Brown, Michael Perez, Bill Ziegler, Colin Letham

INL named finalist for two IT security awards

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been named a 2018 SC Award finalist by SC Media in recognition of exceptional information technology (IT) security. The two categories for which INL received recognition are Best IT Security-related Training Program and Best Security Team.

Selected by an expert panel of judges, the annual SC Awards are seen as the industry gold standard of accomplishment for cybersecurity professionals, products and services.

“INL’s cybersecurity team and training program focuses on people, processes and technology,” said INL Chief Information Officer Robert Hillier. “We differentiate ourselves by effectively utilizing multiple channels and platforms to secure our networks and train our employees on safe cyber practices.”

Team members realize that as threats evolve, they must continue to develop and manage an inclusive approach to protecting the organization’s data. Because the team has actively branded itself through proactive problem-solving, INL employees value them as a trusted resource, rather than an enforcement arm. Key to this success is evolving the team’s ability to be agile as they implement processes and controls, while remaining user friendly and whenever possible, invisible to end users.


Periodic cybersecurity training, disaster recovery planning and incident response exercises are key components to the lab’s success in the awareness and management of security risks. Incident response planning includes INL end users, management and IT professionals, and extends to other national laboratories and the Department of Energy.

"Helping organizations manage risk in ways which are cost-effective, user friendly, and mission enabling takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Ensuring the nation's lead nuclear energy laboratory can continue forward safely is no easy task," said INL Deputy Chief Information Officer Darren Van Booven. “In a field where this hard work is often underappreciated, it is very rewarding to see the team be recognized with such high honors.”

To view the complete list of winners and finalists, click here.

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