Background

The US DOE has concluded that a regional/national power grid design that uses a mix of gigawatt nuclear power reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs between 20 MWe and 300 MWe) offers greater cost advantages, flexibility in financing, and resiliency.

In response to these directives there are at present ongoing intense efforts in USA, Europe, China, Russia and Japan for the development of SMRs.

There are at present over 50+ designs using advanced technologies and materials to qualify SMRs as Generation III+ and Generation IV safety-enhanced SMR reactors.

US NRC are working with industry to change/adapt certification regulations for the SMRs, but Gen III+ SMRs that use advanced but unproven technologies may not be certified until the mid 2020s or much later in 2030.

The SMR technology offers advantages in terms of financing, time-to-commission, as well as production and safety, but they still inherit the draw-backs of the larger plants, ie. the need for periodic refuelling and the requirement of a pool to cool down the decaying radioisotopes of the spent fuel, In other words, when decommissioned, they do leave behind a nuclear footprint.

They also require a costly and sometimes unreliable power transmission line to consumers.