Small Modular and Advanced Nuclear Reactors: A Reality Check

Abstract

Nuclear power has been declining in importance over the last quarter century, with its share of global electrical energy generation decreasing from 17.5 percent in 1996 to around 10 percent in 2019. Small modular and advanced nuclear reactors have been proposed as potential ways of dealing with the problemsspecifically economic competitiveness, risk of accidents, link to proliferation and production of wasteconfronting nuclear power technology. This perspective article examines whether these new designs can indeed solve these problems, with a particular focus on the economic challenges. It briefly discusses the technical challenges confronting advanced reactor designs and the many decades it might take for these to be commercialized, if ever. The article explains why the higher construction and operational costs per unit of electricity generation capacity will make electricity from small modular reactors more expensive than electricity from large nuclear power plants, which are themselves not competitive in today's electricity markets. Next, it examines the potential savings from learning and modular construction, and explains why the historical record suggests that these savings will be inadequate to compensate for the economic challenges resulting from the lower generation capacity. It then critically examines arguments offered by advocates of these technologies about job creation and other potential uses of energy generated from these plants to justify subsidizing and constructing these kinds of nuclear plants. It concludes with an assessment of the markets for these technologies, suggesting that these are inadequate to justify constructing the necessary manufacturing facilities.

Energy system transition pathways to meet the global electricity demand for ambitious climate targets and cost competitiveness

“…economics, waste disposal, terrorism risk, nuclear-weaponsproliferation, public acceptance, safety and decommissioning [54,61,104]. Several countries have already shut down multiple nuclear power plants mainly due to economic reasons [105]. The share of nuclear power in electricity generation declined from 17.5% of the global electricity generation in 1995 to slightly less than 10% in 2021 [106,107].…”

A review of 100% renewable energy scenarios on islands

“…Besides these economic aspects, the utilization of nuclear power is linked with proliferation, residual major technical failure risks with enormous and long‐lasting consequences, and the production of nuclear waste and thus cannot be considered as a sustainable renewable energy source at all. Small modular reactors do not change this fundamental assessment (Ramana, 2021). Larger island countries are regularly investigated in studies for energetic autarky, but also for interconnections to large‐scale nearby continental load centers and respective grids, which can generate benefits from electricity exports, while imports may be also attractive.…”

Capital cost estimation for advanced nuclear power plants

“…Kuznetsov pointed to similar factors: reducing complexity, sizing the reactor for transportability, off-site refueling, multi-module sites, and higher thermal efficiencies [5]. However, some studies question the cost reduction potential [6] and technological advantages of SMRs [7]. Moreover, it is not trivial to quantify the magnitude of these factors for a specific nuclear plant design.…”