Tamil Nadu receives ₹785.21 crore PSDF support for substation modernisation and grid upgrades

Framework agreement covers full lifecycle support

ARC Clean Technology has partnered with Idaho National Laboratory for the design, demonstration, and deployment of the ARC-100, a 100 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor.

Under the multi-year framework agreement, INL support is described as covering “engineering and design, advanced materials and manufacturing, high-performance computing and modelling, irradiation testing, reactor commissioning and operation, and site development; covering the full lifecycle from detailed design through first-of-a-kind deployment.”

The ARC-100 design is stated to use a metallic uranium alloy core and is intended for on-grid electricity production and industrial heat applications.

The technology basis is linked to the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II integral sodium-cooled fast reactor prototype, which operated at Argonne National Laboratory from 1961 until shutting down in 1994.

Supply-chain planning implications: materials, testing, commissioning and regulatory work

The scope laid out in the framework agreement points to multiple supply-chain touchpoints beyond early design, including advanced materials and manufacturing activities, irradiation testing, and commissioning and operation support.

The SOURCE also notes that INL has been involved in ARC’s participation in US Department of Energy programmes, including work that covered fuel design and analysis, Probabilistic Risk Assessment, and regulatory engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ARC previously described a licensing pathway support effort that included a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission pre-licensing vendor design review, which began in 2017 and concluded there were no fundamental barriers to licensing the SMR.

Project timeline and site-development activities

ARC and New Brunswick Power (NB Power) have been working together on the development of the ARC-100 since 2018.

In July 2023, NB Power, in partnership with ARC, submitted an environmental impact assessment registration document and an application for a site preparation licence for an SMR at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant site in New Brunswick.

The demonstration unit was targeted for commissioning by 2029, subject to approvals and licensing.

IPO registration and regulatory limits

Cameco announced it is registering for a proposed IPO of Westinghouse ahead of its quarterly results call. The company said the number of shares to be offered and the price range have not been determined and that the offering would be subject to market and other conditions. Cameco also said it is extremely limited in what it can disclose about the IPO under US Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

Westinghouse featured prominently in Cameco’s quarterly update for the quarter ended 30 June, including discussion of its technology platform across the nuclear power value chain and a global deployment pipeline for AP1000 projects. The business is currently owned 49% by Cameco and 51% by Brookfield, following a 2023 transaction that followed Westinghouse’s 2018 acquisition out of bankruptcy by Brookfield Business Partners.

Pipeline for 91 potential AP1000 reactors

Cameco said Westinghouse’s technology is used by 57% of the global operating fleet of 417 reactors. The materials it filed describe deployment opportunities for 91 potential AP1000 reactors totaling about 105GWe across global markets, with timing and ordering based on closeness to final investment decisions.

The pipeline includes up to 10 AP1000 units supported through American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans announced by the US Department of Energy earlier this year, with a commercial operation timeframe by the mid-2030s. It also cites up to 10 additional US units supported through a strategic partnership among Cameco, Brookfield and the US Department of Commerce announced in 2025, targeting commercial operation by the mid-to-late 2030s.

Other opportunities listed include resumption of the two-unit VC Summer project with early-to-mid 2030s commercial operation; three units at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Poland with operations in the mid-2030s; two units each in Bulgaria (Kozloduy units 7 and 8) and Ukraine (Khmelnitsky units 5 and 6) for mid-to-late 2030s operation; 11 “FEED-Stage Projects” in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland/Sweden, and the USA with a late-2030s timeframe; and up to 51 units across Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, the USA and other European countries with a late-2030s to early-2040s deployment window.

Procurement and long-lead planning focus

Westinghouse’s management said the company’s complete reactor design and operating experience support procurement aspects of new projects and that few bottlenecks are perceived around construction, while also noting risks.

Cameco President and Chief Operating Officer Grant Isaac emphasized the significance of US government funding and the importance of securing long-lead items to support construction projects. Management also pointed to a standardized design, sequential construction projects, and “simplifying” projects by incorporating lessons learned as factors intended to reach Nth-of-a-kind deployments more quickly.

Cameco’s materials also included illustrative economics contrasting near-term deployments with Nth-of-a-kind deployments, including estimates that the nuclear construction period (from first nuclear concrete to commercial operation) is around 66 months per unit for near-term deployments and reduces by 20–30% for Nth-of-a-kind deployments.