Grant: Alliance Grants

Small modular reactors (SMRs) promise to deliver affordable, non-emitting energy for many new applications, particularly for remote communities. The design and working environments of SMR components are different from those of current nuclear reactors. Innovative manufacturing techniques are needed to ensure robust SMR supply chains by reducing capital costs, materials waste, and fabrication time. Moreover, the qualification and performance of these SMR components must be experimentally assessed and validated for the more severe conditions in SMRs - including higher temperatures and pressures and more corrosive environments. Hybrid manufacturing (HM), combining additive manufacturing (AM) and subtractive manufacturing (SM) processes, opens up a new level of design and manufacturing capabilities, allowing fabrication that is more efficient, quick, and with fewer machines by streamlining the process in a unified environment. In this partnership with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) - CanmetMATERIALS (CMAT), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), and Kinectrics Inc., our collaborative team aims to achieve the following objectives: (1) Develop and optimize HM and AM techniques to reduce costs, materials waste, and fabrication time for SMR constructions; (2) Support the qualification of the components made by HM and AM processes to meet SMR regulatory requirements. This project will generate new knowledge to support policy- and decision-making related to robust supply chains for SMRs, support the objectives of Canada's SMR Action Plan, enhance the research capabilities related to manufacturing and materials for SMRs in Canadian universities, and train a new generation of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy makers.