GE Vernova Hitachi & Velan Expand BWRX-300 Collaboration

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Velan have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate the supply of safety-critical valves for European deployments of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor. This agreement focuses on transferring engineering experience from an ongoing construction project in Canada to future digital infrastructure and power generation facilities across Europe. The partnership aims to enhance supply chain capacity for specialized components required in industrial automation and nuclear generation.

The cooperation addresses the technical challenge of building a standardized, reliable supply chain for small modular reactors to support energy grid modernization and decarbonization. Nuclear systems require components that comply with stringent quality and safety standards. Because of the engineering complexity and the specialized manufacturing expertise required for reactor containment systems, GE Vernova Hitachi and Velan combined their complementary design and manufacturing capabilities to ensure component availability for large-scale fleet deployments.

Under the terms of the agreement, Velan is responsible for exploring the supply of Reactor Integral Isolation Valves and Containment Isolation Valves. These mechanical components regulate coolant flow and isolate the reactor containment structure to maintain operational safety and process stability. GE Vernova Hitachi provides the overall reactor design architecture, system integration parameters, and technical specifications for the BWRX-300, which is a 300-megawatt small modular reactor design.

The technical solutions are modelled on the implementation phases of the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario, Canada, which serves as the reference site for testing and validation. The engineering and quality standards established at this facility will be applied to the integration of the valve packages into future European infrastructure. This includes site-specific engineering and development activities in Poland, where GE Vernova Hitachi is working with Orlen Synthos Green Energy to plan the deployment of at least 24 reactor units.

The primary application areas for these specialized valve packages are commercial small modular nuclear power plants. Concrete technical use cases involve the automated isolation of coolant loops during regular operations or maintenance cycles. The resulting operational benefits include enhanced structural maintainability, verified system reliability under high-pressure conditions, and the mitigation of operational risks through standardized component architectures across an entire fleet of reactors.

"One of the key advantages of fleet deployment is the ability to apply experience from early projects to those that follow," said Amir Mujezinovic, Strategy Leader, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

"The valve package represents some of the most critical equipment within a nuclear power plant, essential to safe and reliable operation and requiring specialized engineering, manufacturing, and stringent quality standards," said Laurent Pefferkorn, Executive Vice-President, Global Sales, Velan.

Edited by Natania Lyngdoh, Induportals editor, assisted by AI.

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