Japanese engineering firm JGC Holdings Corp. said Tuesday it will join a U.S. project to build a nuclear power plant housing small modular reactors in Idaho by investing $40 million in American reactor developer NuScale Power LLC.

NuScale is developing a reactor that is smaller than conventional ones with output of 77 megawatts each. The Oregon-based company secured approval for its design in August last year and is aiming to commercialize it by the end of the 2020s.

The cash investment made in March will enable JGC to partner with NuScale in the engineering, procurement and construction business for the commercial power plant that would have multiple small modular reactors, to be built at a site of the Idaho National Laboratory, JGC said.

One reason that small modular reactors are considered safer than conventional nuclear reactors is that they are submerged in a pool and remain cooled in the event that external power supplies are cut, JGC officials said.

As the momentum for decarbonization is building rapidly in the United States and Europe as well as Japan, JGC believes small modular reactor plants can play a key role as a reliable energy source since supplies of renewables such as solar and wind power can fluctuate depending on changes in the natural environment.

Over the longer term, JGC will work with Fluor Corp., a U.S. engineering and construction firm that is a major investor in NuScale in its effort to expand small modular reactor projects globally, in regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia where the Yokohama-based firm has strength, a company official said.

Japan had pushed for nuclear power until the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Most of the nation's nuclear reactors remain offline amid public safety concerns.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet has placed importance on green investments and growth driven by them as Japan aims to bring carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050.

Under its green growth strategy, the Suga government is seeking to throw support behind Japanese companies working with foreign firms over the development of small modular reactors.

==Kyodo

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