Westinghouse Electric Company is pleased to announce the signing of a multiyear master research and collaboration agreement with the University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

The agreement will support the development of multiple cutting-edge research projects at the institutions that will benefit the Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project and the nuclear energy industry as a whole.

An initial project already underway with MU under the agreement is a strategic collaboration to perform first-of-a-kind analysis helping to support licensing activities to establish the emergency planning zone (EPZ) boundary for SMRs.

According to John Goossen, vice president, Westinghouse Innovation and SMR Development: "This collaboration advances our partnership with the University of Missouri System as well as our business relationship with Ameren Missouri as it seeks to be the first American utility to pursue a Combined Construction and Operating License and possibly deploy a Westinghouse SMR at its Callaway Energy Center.

"It is our hope that this alliance will underscore our efforts to support Missouri in becoming a hub for the design, development, manufacturing, construction and deployment of American-made SMRs across this nation and around the world."

Ameren Missouri is the operating license partner in the Westinghouse application to secure Department of Energy (DOE) SMR investment funds. The investment funds are part of a DOE near-term, multi-year initiative focused on the completion of design certification and licensing activities for safe, secure and economical SMR projects.

The 50-50 cost-share agreement between the DOE and private industry is planned to span a five-year period, and the funds available will be subject to Congressional appropriations. A total investment by the DOE of $452 million has been allocated for its SMR program, and private industry must match the government funding it receives.

Tim Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri System, said, "We are excited to be a part of this partnership, which will open many doors for collaborative research between Westinghouse and our university campuses in support of small modular reactor development and deployment." He continued,

"This is an important partnership for our university system, the state and nation as we look toward energy independence while at the same time bringing jobs to Missouri."

"The University of Missouri is enthusiastically supportive of this effort to collaborate with Westinghouse in order to help to develop small modular reactors.

We have great technical depth throughout the engineering disciplines and within MU's research reactor, and we look forward to supporting this important effort," said University of Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton.

"We are also pleased to announce that our first project with Westinghouse is to develop necessary studies to support the licensing of the SMRs, which will have direct economic benefits in this region."

Westinghouse also plans to work with Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, home to the state's first nuclear reactor.

"We're very pleased to be a part of this important collaboration," said Missouri S and T Chancellor Cheryl B. Schrader. "With research capabilities in nuclear, civil, electrical and chemical engineering, as well as materials science and engineering, Missouri S and T is well-positioned to provide a broad range of engineering and science expertise to this effort. We look forward to working with Westinghouse, Ameren and MU to address one of our nation's most pressing energy challenges."

The Westinghouse SMR is a 225 MWe integral pressurized water reactor (PWR) with all primary components located inside of the reactor vessel. It is the company's next product innovation utilizing passive safety systems and proven components, as well as modular construction techniques - all realized and already licensed in the nuclear industry-leading AP1000 nuclear power plant design, the first and only Generation III+ reactor to receive Design Certification from the U.S.

NRC and which is currently being built in China and the U.S. Westinghouse believes that by building upon the concepts and advances in technology achieved in the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, the Westinghouse SMR design will provide licensing, construction and operational certainty that no other SMR supplier can match with competitive economics.