Increasing the power generating capacity of a 12-module NuScale SMR plant by 20 percent lowers the cost of the facility from an expected $5,000 per kilowatt to approximately $4,200 per kilowatt. NuScale's levelized cost of electricity is improved by 18 percent.

The new gross-output of a NuScale power plant will be 720 MWe instead of 600 MWe.

The regulatory process of increasing the level of maximum reactor power at which a nuclear plant can operate is referred to as a power uprate. The 20 percent power increase will be reviewed separately and not impact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) current design review of NuScale's SMR or the scheduled September 2020 approval date of its Design Certification Application (DCA). Since NuScale has made this determination before any plant construction or equipment manufacture, UAMPS will reap the benefit of this optimization without licensing or construction delays.