Next generation nuclear plant inches ahead due to new technology developed at the Idaho National Laboratory

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission submitted to Congress a licensing plan for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant Aug. 15, moving the Idaho-based project one small but important step forward.

“The licensing strategy … provides a description of the ways in which current NRC light-water reactor licensing requirements need to be adapted for the NGNP project,” project development director Phillip C. Hildebrandt said in an email.

The reason current licensing regulations need to be adapted is that the NGNP, being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory http://www.inl.gov , would be a high temperature gas-cooled reactor capable of operating at temperatures of about 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit.

by Zach Hagadone

Full Story: http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2008/08/20/Next-generation-nuclear-plant-inches-ahead