Construction of Pilot LDR-50 SMR Starts in Finland

Finnish small modular reactor developer Steady Energy started the construction of the full-scale, non-nuclear pilot LDR-50 reactor facility for district heating at decommissioned Salmisaari B coal-fired power station in Helsinki.

Unlike the actual power plant, the pilot facility will not contain nuclear fuel in the reactor core. Instead, the reactor circuit water will be heated by electrical resistors operating at about one-tenth of the actual LDR-50 reactor power. The Steady Energy equipment will be placed in the turbine hall and will not affect the building exterior. Commercial reactors will be eventually constructed underground, which will not affect the urban landscape.

The main objectives of the pilot project:

• testing operational features;
• establishing supply chains with equipment manufacturers;
• producing heat for energy firm Helen’s district heating network with an output of about 6 MW.

According to Steady Energy, this will be the first instance of physically testing a reactor module at full scale, beyond simulation environments, before actual construction.

The LDR-50 district heating reactor thermal output is 50 MW. The reactor has been under development since 2020. In addition to projects in Finland, Steady Energy plans the deployment in Poland, Sweden and South Korea. Recently, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fermi Energia to advance the deployment of the LDR-50 reactor concept in Germany.

Based on Steady Energy data