Small Modular Reactors Angling to Fill Nuclear Niche?

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

Date posted: 09/12/13

What differentiates SMRs from traditional nuclear plants. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has alluded to the promise of small modular reactors SMRs) multiple times over the past few months, noting that they may offer benefits in terms of financing, costs and security, while also warning that realistic expectations suggest these reactors are unlikely to come onstream for almost a decade. He said that they remain very interested in pursuing small modular reactors as a technology option for the future. They do not know at this stage what the cost will be, and that is why we are helping to move some new technologies toward licensing, but, he added that this would change a lot of the dynamics around how nuclear power is deployed, particularly the financing structure. At a late August event in New York, he reiterated that SMRs may offer a new way forward for nuclear power in the U.S., but with a bit more caution about the viability of the technology.