Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation said the facility will manufacture and assemble modules needed to construct the company's microreactors.
Unlike nuclear power plants, with their conspicuous cooling towers, microreactors are small and can be shipped to users, while also providing a substantial amount of nuclear power — nearly enough to run a hospital or a small campus. Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation's microreactor vessel is about 40 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter, and each unit can produce 15-30 megawatts of thermal energy, a company spokesman said.
Microreactors are a developing energy alternative. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in collaboration with the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, is in the pre-application process with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to put one of the small reactors on campus.
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