TerraPower is a Bill Gates-backed nuclear energy technology company based in Bellevue, Washington, USA with the goal of providing a more affordable, secure and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy.
The pumps play a fundamental role in the safety and operation of the reactor by pumping the primary coolant, liquid sodium, through the reactor core.
In the first phase, SPX Flow has been commissioned to perform the conceptual design with options to build and test a prototype pump. The pump will have to meet both the exacting quality standards associated with ASME NQA-1 and Class 1 equipment and all the functional requirements for normal operation and the beyond design basis events such as seismic activity.
Once the design process has been completed, it is anticipated that SPX Flow will manufacture the pumps at its Nuclear Center of Excellence in Annecy, France.
Chris Levesque, president of TerraPower, said: “As we begin the TWR primary sodium pump project with SPX Flow, we continue our approach to manage and reduce technical risks, component by component, to make our advanced reactor technology a reality.”
“We are very excited by the opportunity to work with TerraPower as its primary sodium pump design partner. TerraPower is rightly recognized as one of the leading forces in producing next-generation nuclear energy,” said Jose Larios, president of SPX Flow Power and Energy.
