From Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 22:
Investors have hauled a Portland-based nuclear power company into federal court claiming the company misled them about a major project promised to usher in a new age of nuclear power.
NuScale Power canceled a partnership earlier this month with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems that would have seen the first small modular nuclear reactors built in the United States. The project called for six NuScale reactors to be built at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The deal collapsed earlier this month under the weight of rising interest rates and inflation, according to NuScale. The project could have delivered nuclear power to 16 states.
In a class-action lawsuit filed Nov. 15, investors say NuScale “made materially false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects.” They are seeking unspecified monetary damages to recoup their losses plus interest.
While there are a number of U.S. companies trying to perfect the technology, NuScale has the only small modular nuclear reactor design approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Small modular reactors are more affordable to build and operate. They are touted as being safer than traditional nuclear power plants in part because emergencies are easier to contain.
Small modular reactors have capacities up to 300 megawatts, less than half a large reactor. Unlike large reactors, small modular reactors are constructed at central locations then shipped to their final destination. Their design means additional reactors can be added as power demand grows.
The lawsuit claims NuScale withheld from investors that the proposed Idaho project wasn’t financially viable after it failed to attract enough customers. Over the course of several investor calls in 2023, NuScale executives told investors progress acquiring the needed customer base was “looking pretty good” and that “we continue to make progress.”...
....MUCH MORE
Recently:
"The First Small-Scale Nuclear Plant in the US Died Before It Could Live"
Back in August Beijing's CGTN-TV reported: "China installs core module of world's first commercial small nuclear reactor"
Previously:
Bill Gates and Microsoft's Azure cloud, Jeff Bezos and Amazon's cloud and Google's cloud have all been putting money into SMR research for their own purposes. From The Register, December 30, 2022:Regulators sign off on NuScale small modular nuclear reactor, first to get approval
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2019: Bill Gates at Technology Review
A Nuclear Renaissance?""Study shows advantages of charging electric heavy-duty vehicles with small modular nuclear reactors"
You didn't think we posted Build Your Own Nuclear Power Plant to no practical purpose did you?Nukes: Polish Copper Miner To Power Developments With Small Modular Reactors
