NRC approves “state of the art” Westinghouse eVinci I&C platform

Westinghouse Electric Company's eVinci Advanced Logic System (ALS) Version 2 (v2) instrument and control (I&C) platform has received approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission through a final safety evaluation report on two topical reports.

The eVinci is now the first and only microreactor with an I&C system approved by the NRC, which opens a path to autonomous operation. The approvals also allow the ALS v2 platform to be used by any reactor currently in the U.S. fleet.

"NRC approval of these first topical reports for the state-of-the-art eVinci control system is a major licensing milestone," said Jon Ball, president of eVinci technologies at Westinghouse, in a December 4 news release. "This will advance our future goal of autonomous operation, as the eVinci control system minimizes operator input, even during operations like load-following."

A closer look: ALS v2 is a universal, logic-based platform that controls safety-critical systems using hardware instead of software or a computer chip. The design minimizes the need for operator oversight while also increasing safety.

With just a few moving parts, the eVinci sodium-cooled microreactor works essentially as a battery-which makes it versatile for power systems of various sizes.

It can produce up to 5 MW, operates around the clock, and can run for more than eight years without refueling. Plus, the units are factory built and arrive on-site already assembled.

Quotable: "The eVinci microreactor builds on decades of industry-leading Westinghouse innovation to bring carbon-free, safe, and scalable energy wherever it is needed for a variety of applications, including providing reliable electricity and heating for data centers, the oil and gas industry, mining operations, remote communities, universities, industrial centers, and defense facilities, and soon the lunar surface and beyond," according to Westinghouse.

In related news: Westinghouse is making progress on the front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) for a prototype microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory, the Department of Energy announced in September. The one-fifth scale version of eVinci is one of three reactors that could be tested at the National Reactor Innovation Center's DOME test bed "as early as 2026," the DOE said.