Frazer-Nash Consultancy (Frazer-Nash) and Terrestrial Energy have signed a contract for engineering services related to the fabrication of the graphite moderator, a key component in Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), a Generation IV advanced nuclear power plant.
Frazer-Nash has world-leading expertise in the performance of graphite moderators, providing consulting services to the United Kingdom government and the operators of the nation’s fleet of advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs). This fleet of 14 AGRs uses graphite as the moderator, generating 18 percent of the United Kingdom’s electricity.
The United Kingdom has operated 40 graphite moderated reactors for electric power generation since 1956, providing over half a century of operating experience on the performance of graphite moderators. During this period, extensive studies have been conducted on the performance of reactor graphite. Terrestrial Energy will draw on this knowledge and experience as it proceeds with the engineering programs for deployment of the first commercial IMSR power plant.
“We are excited to be working with Terrestrial Energy as this collaboration provides a very tangible way of applying our skills and knowledge to help deliver low-carbon energy to our future power landscape,” said Neil McDougall, Managing Director of Frazer-Nash. “Frazer-Nash experts are assisting Terrestrial Energy with the fabrication of the IMSR graphite moderator, supporting it to deliver to time and budget. We are pleased to be providing our experience and know-how relating to high-temperature graphite and leveraging our work with the Nuclear Innovation Programme, initiated and funded by the UK Government. We look forward to contributing to Terrestrial Energy’s game-changing IMSR power plant project and to its commercial deployment.”
“We are seeking to deploy a commercially transformative nuclear power plant, and with this objective in mind, it is natural that we are using a graphite moderated Generation IV technology,” said Simon Irish, Chief Executive Officer of Terrestrial Energy. “Graphite moderator engineering for fabrication is a key element in our IMSR development program. We are delighted to be working with Frazer-Nash’s expert team and to have the benefit of its world-leading graphite knowledge and nuclear engineering experience.”
