The nuclear power industry is trying to bounce back after shrinking for decades, and shrunken nuclear reactors could be one key to success.
Combining new technologies, advanced engineering and a market-friendly approach, reactor manufacturers are developing new systems that produce less power but are much smaller and less costly than existing nuclear reactors.
The pitch: small modular reactors, or SMRs, that can be housed in compact containment structures and operate safely with less shielding and oversight. SMRs could allow power plants to shed their huge hourglass-shaped cooling towers and, in some designs, the reactors would be immersed in water to prevent overheating.
Dozens of designs are now on the table, with a handful under preliminary U.S. and Canadian regulatory review following several billion dollars of investment by private and government entities. A Utah utility hopes to run the first U.S. SMR by the end of the decade. China is investing heavily in SMR development, and Russia last year fired up an SMR on a ship, touting it as a portable power station.
SMRs may not be an easy sell, given concerns over the safety and environmental impact of nuclear power. But proponents of the new technology are pitching competitively priced, potentially limitless electricity that yields no greenhouse gas emissions—unlike power plants that burn fossil fuels—and that is more reliable than wind or solar power.
