Engineering360: "Are small modular reactors the future, even as old nuclear plants restart?"

I think there is/will be a place for both types of reactors--SMR and the very large ones. The large will be suited for supplying electrical power to a wide area, maybe a full state or many counties. But the SMRs will be better for larger concentrated users such as data centers and steel mills. Remember that a large reactor can replace a coal/gas generating plant; that is, provide the heat source for the already existing generating facilities and transmission infrastructure.

I suspect the cost statement in the article is wrong. If the costs are reevaluated over the full lifetime from birth to death considering ALL costs and eliminating ALL subsidies, the nuclear route will be cheaper.

My opinion is also that use of Gen IV (fast) reactors will provide much more efficient use of uranium than the present thermal reactors.

Thanks for reading!

Nice article. I would like more details on some of the particular designs at play but I do agree that smaller plants are the future. I dont think the larger installations using traditional fuels are viable anymore with the environmental hurdles (lawsuits and delays) and the large towers are an eyesore to some people who will oppose anything like that. These smaller and modular systems can be placed nearish to city centers and high-end users with little perceived impact.

Additionally, the older spent fuel can be used in some of these modular systems potentially reducing the quite expensive waste stream.

While there is clearly some highlighting the good and downplaying the bad, I think the future is small and close which reduces transmission losses as well.