Welding method drastically cuts time to make mini nuclear reactors

[Micael]

This sounds like a pretty interesting development in the nuclear field. I believe that cutting down on production times will be a key factor in enabling SMRs to become really attractive.

Welding method drastically cuts time to make mini nuclear reactors

Sheffield Forgemasters uses electron beams that reduce the process from 150 days to two hours

Emma PowellJuly 19 2023, 12.01am BST
Sheffield Forgemasters produces a wide range of large-scale steel products
One of Britain’s oldest steelmakers has developed a manufacturing technique that it claims could drastically reduce the time and cost to produce mini nuclear power stations, which have been proposed as one way to bridge the nation’s energy gap.

Using traditional techniques, the welding process alone can take at least 120 to 150 days. This new method can reduce the time to about two hours, according to Jesus Talamantes-Silva, director of research at Sheffield Forgemasters, drastically accelerating the manufacturing of SMRs. “That’s how disruptive this technology is,” he said.

The technique is already being used in the automotive and aerospace industries to produce smaller, relatively low-value components. Forgemasters is the first to use the welding technology to build a full-scale SMR pressure vessel, which weighs about 57 tonnes, has a diameter of three metres and walls with a thickness of 200 millimetres.

Unlike conventional plants, SMRs can be factory built. The government wants to open up far more areas as potential sites, replacing rules that allow nuclear power stations only in eight named locations, as it attempts to reach a target of 24 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050, from 6GW at present.

The government has said it will award the first SMR contracts next summer after six designs, including one from Rolls-Royce, were selected to compete for up to £20 billion in taxpayer funding.

Forgemasters has a history in the nuclear industry, producing key components for the Rolls-Royce-built power plants for Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet. However, it was overlooked as a supplier to Hinkley Point C, the country’s only new nuclear power station under construction, which has been delayed and is running over budget.

The company, which was nationalised by the Ministry of Defence in 2021 after running into financial difficulties, traces its roots back more than 200 years and is a bastion of the UK steel industry.

Forgemasters has signed memorandum-of-understanding agreements with companies including Rolls-Royce and GE Hitachi, a North Carolina-based joint venture between General Electric of the United States and Hitachi of Japan, for the commercial supply of components for SMRs.

“They recognise the added value that this fabrication technique could have to supply the amount of reactors if this kicks off, that the world could need,” Talamantes-Silva said.

The next step for Forgemasters is to apply for an amendment to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers code, which is adhered to by most countries around the world for the design and construction of nuclear components.

[Pdf27]

Honestly not sure why this is news - they've just bought a COTS EB welding machine. I spent several days in Vlissingen a few years back witnessing the tests on a rather larger EB welded part.

https://www.sciaky.com/eb-welding/large-chamber-systems

[kdahm]

And it doesn't matter if the welding is 2 hours or 20 hours. The next big timeline target is the testing of the welds to be sure there aren't problems, which will take 20 days easily. And part of their "success" is that they are making much smaller vessels, which by the cube-square law need much less welding.