The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded a grant to PLN Indonesia Power (Indonesia Power) for technical assistance to help develop the country’s first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plant. Indonesia Power selected Oregon-based NuScale Power OVS, LLC (NuScale) to carry out the assistance in partnership with a subsidiary of Texas-based Fluor Corporation and Japan’s JGC Corporation.

The proposed 462-megawatt facility—based on the NuScale VOYGR-6 (6-module, 77 MWe per module) SMR plant—would advance Indonesia’s clean energy transition.

NuScale power module (77 MWe)

USTDA’s assistance will assess the technical and economic viability of the proposed nuclear power plant, to be located in West Kalimantan. It will include a site selection plan, power plant and interconnection system design, preliminary environmental and social impact assessment, risk assessment, cost estimate and regulatory review.

After 78 years of waiting, now is the time to achieve self-sufficiency in emission-free green energy. Through cooperation on technical assistance for the development of a small modular reactor, Indonesia Power, the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia, and NuScale, with support from USTDA, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and PT PLN (Persero), have opened the gates to a new era of nuclear energy for electricity to light up Indonesia.

—Edwin Nugraha Putra, Indonesia Power’s President Director

USTDA partnership with Indonesia Power supports a broader US government engagement with Indonesia on SMR adoption, including targeted support under the US Department of State’s Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of SMR Technology (FIRST) Program.

Separately, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that it will begin the technical review of NuScale’s second Standard Design Approval (SDA) application. NuScale submitted the application in late 2022, which is based on the VOYGR-6 (6-module) power plant configuration powered by an uprated 250 MWt (77 MWe) SMR design.

The design reflected in this application features the same fundamental safety case and passive safety features approved by the NRC in 2020 (earlier post), with a focus on the power uprate and select design changes to support customers’ capacity needs and further improve economics.