Nuclear power: governments should get down to business with SMRs

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Small-scale modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) have long been touted as a potential solution to the troubled nuclear industry. The concept is finally showing signs of life. Speed ​​is essential.

Among the positive signs, the US has announced $275 million financing for NuScale to build a new SMR in Romania. The UK has launched a competence to identify the best SMR design. GE/Hitachi is set to build the world’s first SMR plant in Darlington, Canada.

Such developments are encouraging. SMRs have the potential to contribute to the energy transition. Nuclear power is needed to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. The International Energy Agency projects capacity to double from today’s 413 GW to 812 GW by 2050. That’s if the challenges of building a large nuclear reactor can be met on time and on budget. The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK is expected to cost £32 billion and has been delayed until 2027. Flamanville, in France, is more than a decade late.

In theory, it should be possible to build large reactors at low cost if the design could be standardized. But it may be easier to achieve benefits of scale by building multiple small modular reactors instead. Components would be manufactured in factories and assembled on site. The companies involved estimate that the cost of electricity from the SMRs would be around $60-75/MWh.
Hinkley Point’s electricity will cost more than £100/MWh ($124).

There are other advantages. Small reactors don’t need as much space, which means they can be built on the sites of decommissioned coal plants.

The downside is that the SMRs are very far away. Even companies that propose a smaller version of existing technologies must go through a lengthy approval process.

In the UK, Rolls-Royce’s SMR is 18 months into a process certifying the safety of its generic design. Rolls-Royce will then have to see if its technology is selected as best in class by the UK. Business discussions will continue. You will also need to resubmit your designs for approval based on the specific site. Overall, it is aiming for first power production by 2032.

That sort of timeline doesn’t give SMRs much breathing room to contribute to the UK’s stated target of net-zero power generation by 2035. This doesn’t mean the search for the technology is futile. It simply means that governments should get down to business.