e-Vinci

The e-Vinci developer is in pre-application engagement with the U.S. NRC and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Although sodium heat-pipe microreactors have no operating commercial precedent and the e-Vinci is being pursued as a first-of-a-kind demonstration, the design incorporates multiple reactor components with operational precedent (HTR-PM in China), including graphite moderation and TRISO fuel. The reactor’s high degree of modularity will support rapid deployment, but it relies on a specialized sodium heat pipe supply chain.

Microreactor projects are typically in the tens to low hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars per unit because of their small footprint. The e-Vinci’s packaged architecture reduces required civil works, which reduces the scope of site construction. 

Operational assumptions emphasize few moving parts, a sealed core, and remote monitoring, which contribute to low maintenance and staffing needs. Expensive fuel costs result from the use of HALEU TRISO fuel. Decommissioning involves module removal rather than expensive on-site dismantlement.

The e-Vinci does not yet have an operating prototype, though a test reactor is planned at Idaho National Laboratory. Factory fabrication contributes to more consistent manufacturing costs, but overall Cost Predictability remains low owing to the absence of first-of-a-kind baselining.

The e-Vinci’s use of HALEU fuel and its thermal spectrum render the design not optimal for the production of weapons-usable material. Westinghouse has incorporated safeguards by design. While different than security by design, this effort shares overlapping characteristics such as access control, monitoring and surveillance, and material control and accountability that can also contribute to the reactor’s inherent security.

The e-Vinci has not been licensed, so no approved safety case exists. The design uses TRISO fuel, which provides functional containment and high heat tolerance. In addition to negative reactivity feedback, the e-Vinci has another shutdown system in the form of drums that rotate to a shutdown position when the reactor is actively tripped. Sodium is confined to sealed heat pipes rather than circulating loops, thus enabling indefinite passive heat decay with reduced chemical hazard.

The e-Vinci is not expected to produce a large absolute amount of waste compared to other reactors in the tool because of its microreactor size. The waste it does produce will include spent TRISO fuel, activated metals and components, irradiated graphite from the moderator, and sodium from the heat-pipe system. Spent TRISO fuel retains relatively low decay heat at long cooling times, which is an important driver of storage, transportation, and disposal. The sealed core enables off-site shipment for storage with limited on-site infrastructure.

The e-Vinci can rely on multiple commercial suppliers for graphite, but nuclear-qualified high-temperature heat pipes, integrated core assemblies, and control systems remain limited to pilot or single-vendor capability. HALEU enrichment has very limited commercial scale and TRISO fuel fabrication is largely pilot scale.