The joint effort will produce requirements to start power plant fabrication by late 2020s.  

Today at CERAWeek, Prodigy Clean Energy and Lloyd’s Register announced a collaboration to complete the development of lifecycle requirements for Prodigy’s Transportable Nuclear Power Plants  to drive deployment in Canada by 2030.

Partially funded by a (CAD) $2,750,000 Government of Canada award to Prodigy under the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Enabling Small Modular Reactor (SMRs) programme, this project will produce models for TNPP marine fabrication, marine transport and centralised decommissioning.

Prodigy and LR expect this collaboration to demonstrate how a country can manufacture, deploy, operate and decommission transportable and floating nuclear power plant technologies without making major changes to sovereign regulatory frameworks.  

“In a world where demand for more nuclear generation is surging, Prodigy’s transportable nuclear facilities are emerging as missing puzzle pieces to mass customise SMR new builds. The development of our lifecycle requirements has progressed significantly over the past two years, and will benefit greatly from LR’s experience and recommendations,” said Mathias Trojer, President and CEO of Prodigy Clean Energy.

TNPPs enhance power plant modularity and economics, speed up project schedules, reduce environmental impact and boost the technical and financial viability for SMR deployment in coastal and remote regions. LR and Prodigy are preparing TNPPs for commercial implementation by defining the industrial practices needed and showing how regulatory requirements will be met across critical plant lifecycle phases.

“This project with Prodigy is notable as it is one of the first to establish guidelines for transportable and floating nuclear power plants. We are developing models based on real-world use cases with specific inputs from end-users, setting a potential global standard. These models will be valuable for sovereign regulators and international marine fabricators as they work to position themselves in the emerging global maritime nuclear energy market,” said Mark Tipping, LR’s Global Offshore Power To X Director, who leads on nuclear technology.  

Prodigy is developing two sizes of facilities: the Prodigy Microreactor Power Station TNPP™ and the SMR Marine Power Station TNPP™, which can integrate different sizes and types of nuclear reactors. Prodigy’s TNPPs are not barges with reactors onboard – they are purpose-designed, marine fabricated buildings qualified to house operating nuclear reactors. All systems and components are contained within the TNPP, reducing the need for additional land-based buildings.  

By using a dedicated workforce in a marine fabrication factory setting and transporting the entire power plant to site, Prodigy can deliver a new nuclear build in significantly less time and at a more competitive cost, compared to traditional nuclear construction practices. Prodigy’s TNPPs are customisable from 1 < MWe < 1,000 gross output and can be tailored for high-heat applications. They provide solutions across a variety of sectors, including hard-to-abate industries, data centres, heavy industry, clean fuels and hydrogen generation, and grid decarbonisation, ensuring rapid deployment of clean, affordable and firm power.