NuScale Power and Paragon Energy Solutions have signed a patent licensing agreement that will make the highly integrated Protection Systems (HIPS) platform potentially widely available. The HIPS platform is a protection system architecture developed jointly by NuScale and Rock Creek Innovations, a company Paragon acquired in December 2021.
In 2017, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) evaluated the HIPS platform developed for NuScale's Small Modular Reactor (SMR) as an effective platform for safety-related instruments and control systems in nuclear applications.
Hybrid systems based on analog and digital logic include security features, communications, device interfaces, and hardwiring modules. All modules run independently and asynchronously. The four module types can be interlinked to achieve a variety of configurations to support various types of reactor safety systems. The platform also uses field programmable gate array technology and is not vulnerable to Internet cyber attacks.
NuScale, which has been working with RCI since 2010, is planning to use the HIPS platform -- which does not operate with software or microprocessors -- for its SMR module protection system.
The licensing agreement signed between NuScale and Paragon enables the wider nuclear industry to implement the NRC approved HIPS platform.
NuScale said: "By using the HIPS platform to provide efficient, economical and network-resistant reactor protection solutions for other reactor designs, this agreement will drive the industry towards achieving global decarbonization goals in the near term.
"The nuclear community shares a common goal of providing carbon-free and reliable power to our respective customers with the highest level of safety," said John Hopkins, President and CEO of NuScale. NuScale and Paragon are pleased to offer our sophisticated HIPS technology to help our industry move into a clean energy future."
Doug VanTassell, President and CEO of Paragon, said: "HIPS with a strong, similar to the reliability of the simulation, at the same time provide the necessary diagnosis for the factory, in order to reduce the operating and maintenance costs, sales, technology for nuclear power plant operators is the change of the rules of a game, they are looking for safety related system, the system can work for decades without a major upgrade.
The NuScale Power module is a pressurised water reactor with all of its steam generation and heat exchange components integrated into a 77 megawatt unit and is the first SMR design to receive NRC approval. A 12-module VoyGR-12 power station is capable of generating 924 MEGAwatts of energy; The company also offers the four-module VoyGR-4 (308 MW) and six-module VoyGR-6 (462 MW) power stations, as well as other configurations based on customer requirements.