GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) congratulated DTE Energy on Thursday after the latter acquired a construction and operation license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), allowing the company to fully launch operations.
GEH said this is among the first facilities using GEH's Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to be approved after the NRC approved the reactor last year.
"With this license, DTE Energy now possesses the most diverse, comprehensive slate of options to plan for Michigan's energy future," Steven Kurmas, DTE Energy's president and chief operating officer, said. "The potential of additional nuclear energy gives us the option of reliable, base-load, generation that does not emit greenhouse gases."
Dominion Virginia Power also will utilize the ESBWR in its proposed nuclear power plant project, which is subject to licensing in one year.
GEH said this reactor can cool itself for at least seven days, should there be an outage of power, either on- or off-site. With NRC approval, this reactor's design will likely be sought after in international markets, including India, Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and other nations.
"The granting of this license is also an important milestone for the ESBWR, the world’s latest reactor design to be certified by the U.S. NRC,” Caroline Reda, GEH president and CEO, said.
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