This is a nuclear reactor, but it is not your normal nuclear reactor.
It’s a Small Modular Reactor, and the company behind it, called NuScale, wants to revolutionize
clean energy by providing simpler, cheaper, and safer nuclear power.
Is that even possible?
Let’s take a look.
A Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is generally defined as an advanced reactor that produces
up to 300 MW(e) per module.
They can be deployed alone or as part of a plant with several modules, and are designed
to be built in factories and shipped wherever they’re needed for the final installation.
A bigger nuclear reactor may be more cost effective, but some markets don’t have the grid or
the capital to support a traditional nuclear plant.
A small reactor may make sense in smaller or more remote areas that want a dedicated
power supply that is not a fossil fuel.
Right now there are around 50 designs and concepts for this kind of technology around the globe,
including a few in the US.
NuScale’s SMR is the first one to receive design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Their modules are 76 feet tall, 15 feet in diameter, and can generate 77 MW(e).
These reactors can be combined in power plants with four, six or twelve individual modules.
This is way less than the common gigawatt sized nuclear facilities, but the idea is
that this scalable model can be deployed in a much faster and cheaper way.
José Reyes, the CEO and cofounder of the company and one of the designers, lists some of the advantages.
It's all factory manufactured. So that means we can build the modules in a factory
and then you do the construction at the site, the civil construction, in parallel.
Instead of a five year construction period we look immediately at a three year
construction period so it's a greatly reduced construction period.
It gives you greater financial certainty because you know exactly how and when the modules
will be built and delivered.
And it also provides a lot of flexibility, which we don't have in the nuclear power industry
today.
So being able to load follow wind and solar, for example, we built that capability into
our design.
Nuclear does not generate carbon emissions, and this is key.
The concerns over climate change are becoming more pressing, and nuclear provides energy
without the emissions that come with other sources such as coal, or oil, or natural gas.
And while it’s true that wind and solar have become more and more affordable in recent
years, it’s unclear that transitioning to 100% renewable energy is feasible, at least
in the short term.
Experts definitely disagree.
Let’s get some background here.
At the end of 2020, the US had 94 operating commercial nuclear reactors, with
an average age of about 39 years.
That means, they’re getting old.
In recent years, several power plants have been retired and the newer projects
are not something that you would call exactly successful.
In 2017, the construction of two new reactors in South Carolina stopped after years of delays
and overscosts.
Another two planned reactors in Georgia are still under construction, but they have also
accumulated delays and cost overruns.
Nuclear is still a very polarizing subject.
A poll this year by the Pew Research Center showed that most Americans say that reducing
the effects of climate change needs to be a top priority, and a majority favor expanding
solar and wind.
When it comes to nuclear, support and opposition go almost half and half.
Safety is one of the main concerns, and it’s not an unreasonable one, if you remember the
Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters, or here in the US, the Three Mile Island accident.
Going back to Small Modular reactors and to NuScale, José Reyes, who also worked for nearly
ten years as a research engineer in the Reactor Safety Division of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, says that this has been a main part of their design, and that the smaller
size also helps.
Under the worst case conditions,
the reactors will safely shut down without any operator action without the need for any
AC or DC power and remain cooled for an unlimited period of time
without the need to add water so that's a huge breakthrough in the industry and we're
the first ones to do that in terms of the commercial nuclear power industry.
Let's say, something does happen, you have a one in a billion year event, what would
happen to the plant and what would happen to the surroundings?
And what we found was that, under those worst case conditions, you know, once in a billion
year event that you damage your fuel,
we don't exceed the regulatory doses at the site boundary. So instead of the large ten mile
radius around the plant, which is typically required for a emergency planning zone, we're
at the fence, we're at the site boundary.
Waste is the other main concern, and one that hasn't been fully solved, although the total
amount is relatively small compared to the energy produced.
Used fuel can actually be reused but part of it will still need to be stored and disposed
safely.
Of course, convincing regulators is one thing, but the general public is another.
Internationally, the situation and the views toward nuclear vary a lot country by country,
and some places like Germany already decided years ago that they would stop using it.
In the US, president Biden’s administration has expressed support for nuclear as an element
to meet its climate goals.
The department of Energy has specifically supported the development of small modular
reactors.
The reactions are varied.
Todd Allen is a Professor and Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University
of Michigan.
An engineer saying, my system is safe, and
a community saying, they're happy having the system there, are two totally different questions.
So I think that has to be proven also.
And if people get comfortable with the fact that small reactors have a different hazard
then you might see them in more places.
So I think every country is going to be different...
But I would say, compared to twenty years ago, I think more of them are more willing to think
about nuclear...
I think the fact that SMRs are moving towards deployment will bring some people, some countries
into that discussion.
Right now, NuScale is looking at 2029 to see its first SMR power plant in operation, in
Idaho Falls.
This is part of an initiative lead by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, but
the company is in conversations with other entities and possible customers, not only
here, but around the world, so this could potentially happen sooner.
So what are your thoughts on nuclear and these small modular reactors?
Is this how we solve climate change?
Leave your thoughts in the comments and check CNET for more videos about the future
of energy.