US nuclear test facility welcomes UK undergrads

North America's most advanced small modular reactor test facilities will open their doors to British engineering undergraduates, it has been announced. NuScale Power has offered four places in its fully-funded internship programme to University of Sheffield students; the course will run between June and September 2016. 

NuScale has a team of more than 600 in its Corvallis, Oregon base, and is developing pioneering SMR technology to deliver a more flexible, cost-effective low carbon source of electricity generation. The course is backed by the US Department of Energy and Fluor Corporation. NuScale is due to submit its Design Certification Application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission this year and to be generating for its first American customer in 2024.

NuScale has been building a presence in the UK for the past three years with a view to seeing its technology developed, manufactured, and deployed in this market, and potentially providing a springboard to export into Europe.

Tom Mundy, Managing Director of NuScale UK & Europe, said: “Opening up our world class test facilities to Britain’s future nuclear engineers is an important part of the enduring partnership NuScale is forging with the UK energy sector.

“With our design application being finalised for the regulator this year, these selected students will be contributing to our programme development activities in Corvallis at a crucial moment in our journey to bring this exciting new technology to market.

“The prospects for careers in the UK nuclear industry are strong. We want to play a significant role in building the skills pipeline that’s going to be needed to manufacture and deploy our technology to keep the lights on in the UK and elsewhere.”

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