Cutting
Edge
Technology
By Jay Wileman, GE Hitachi Nuclear
Energy.
Jay Wileman
Jay Wileman serves as Senior Vice
President. Nuclear Plant Projects and
Chief Operating Officer, GE Hitachi
Nuclear Energy, a
position he assumed
at the end of 2012.
Jay most recently led
GE Energy’s efforts
across Sub-Saharan
Africa, serving
as its President,
since 2009. He
led the team that
provides integrated
product and service
solutions that meet
Africa’s needs in oil,
natural gas, power
generation, water, renewables and new
grid modernization.
A seasoned executive with more than
25 years’ experience, he has a wealth of
international knowledge, having led a
great number of global teams to success
across the energy spectrum while on
assignment.
Jay received his Bachelor of Science in
Nuclear Engineering from Mississippi
State University and his Master’s Degree
in Business Administration from the
University of Alabama in Birmingham.
An interview by Newal Agnihotri, Editor
of Nuclear Plant Journal, at Nuclear
Energy Institute’s Nuclear Energy
Assembly in Scottsdale, Arizona on May
21, 2014.
1. What are the highlights of GE
Hitachi Nuclear Energy activities in the
past one year?
2013 was an exciting year. And
we built quite a bit of momentum in a
number of areas. 2013 started off with a
great announcement that we were able to
make in April regarding the ESBWR and
the Dominion project. We announced
in April jointly together that for North
Anna 3 site, they’d selected the ESBWR
technology. That’s our Generation
3+ passive safety, natural circulation
design. We started working on the
specific application of that technology
to the North Anna site as a joint team,
along with our consortia partner. So, we
are excited about an
opportunity to bring
that technology into
the US and to move
forward with that,
should they choose to
do the North Anna 3
project.
Throughout the
year, we worked hard
with theUK’s Nuclear
Decommi s s i on i ng
Authority
for
their
plutonium
disposition,
which
they’ve deemed as a
national priority.
In January 2014, following a two-
year review process, the NDA declared
that PRISM’s fourth generation nuclear
power technology is a “credible option”
for managing the UK’s plutonium
stockpile. We continue to work with
the NDA to further develop their
understanding of the technology as a
credible option.
We were selected by the Department
of Energy for our GLE, Global Laser
Enrichment technology for exclusive
negotiations of a potential contract to
acquire depleted uranium waste and re-
enrich it up to a natural uranium state to
put back into the market.
Regarding the Design Control
Document (DCD) for ESBWR (design
certification application review) we were
working through with the NRC last year
to resolve some of the final open items
on the steam dryer area. And so, we
answered all their questions submitted
in December 2013, and we’re currently
in rulemaking process. And so, we think
that’s a very important next milestone
to completing the DCD, and we’re
looking forward to that being completed
(achieving certification of the reactor’s
design) later in 2014.
2.
When do you expect the design
criteria to be approved?
The public comment period
closes on the 5th of June 2014, and
we would hope that it would get to the
commissioner’s desk very shortly after
that. (Current Update: The comment
period closed June 5, 2014 with no
comments submitted).
Two of our customers submitted
their Combined Operating License
Application (COLA). DTE submitted
last year, and then Dominion submitted,
for the North Anna site, in December
2013. And so, they’re going through their
review process with the NRC, based on
the ESBWR technology.
We just have a consortium. Our
customer Dominion, and then the
consortia parties, which are ourselves and
Fluor Daniel. Fluor has a long experience
of nuclear energy, and we work well with
them across all of GE in many different
technologies.
3.
What is the current status of ABWR
technology?
So, let’s talk about the ABWR or
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor. That’s
a good topic for the other technology
platform that we have. There are currently
four ABWRs in the World. It’s the only
generation 3 reactor with operational
experience as of this time. Kashiwazaki
6 and 7 were the first two. Then we had
two others operating in Japan, and then
there are four under construction, two
more in Japan and then two in Taiwan
with the Lungmen project. So, the
ABWR is very well proven as a great
design. One other thing I should mention
is Hitachi, our JV partner, purchased the
Horizon project in the UK. Horizon, with
the help of HGNE (Hitachi-GE Nuclear
Energy) our JV partner, is going through
the GDA (Generic Design Assessment)
process, which for their licensing steps
are the steps that they go through over
three or four years. So, they’re in step
two right now, and of course GE Hitachi
is helping them with the UK’s Office of
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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2014
