Small Reactors Called U.S. Nuclear Future

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 12/14/11

The future of U.S. nuclear power generation could lie in small, modular reactors rather than the giant facilities common today, energy researchers say. A report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago assessed the economic feasibility of classical, gigawatt-scale reactors and a possible new generation of modular reactors. Small modular reactors, or SMRs, would have a generating capacity of 600 megawatts or less. They would be factory-built as modular components and then shipped to their desired location for assembly, a University of Chicago release said Tuesday. "Clearly, a robust commercial SMR industry is highly advantageous to many sectors in the United States," the report said. "It would be a huge stimulus for high-valued job growth, restore U.S. leadership in nuclear reactor technology and, most importantly, strengthen U.S. leadership in a post-Fukushima world, on matters of nuclear safety, nuclear security, nonproliferation, and nuclear waste.