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Small Modular Nuclear Reactors do not measure up to the hype of their proponents

One size doesn’t fit all: Social priorities and technical conflicts for small modular reactors  Science Direct,  M.V. Ramana,  Zia Mian   2014.04.15

Abstract

Small modular reactors (SMRs) have been proposed as a possible way to address the social problems confronting nuclear power, including poor economics, the possibility of catastrophic accidents, radioactive waste production, and linkage to nuclear weapon proliferation. Several SMR designs, with diverse technical characteristics, are being developed around the world and are promoted as addressing one or more of these problems. This paper examines the basic features of different kinds of SMRs and shows why the technical characteristics of SMRs do not allow them to solve simultaneously all four of the problems identified with nuclear power today. It shows that the leading SMR designs under development involve choices and trade-offs between desired features. Focusing on a single challenge, for example cost reduction, might make other challenges more acute. The paper then briefly discusses other cultural and political factors that contribute to the widespread enthusiasm for these reactors, despite technical and historical reasons to doubt that the promises offered by SMR technology advocates will be actually realized.

1. Introduction

Nuclear power advocates have been looking to revive a high-rate of construction of reactors and to retain, if not increase, electricity market share worldwide in the face of the well-known problems associated with this technology. In 2003, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the future of nuclear power traced the “limited prospects for nuclear power today” to “four unresolved problems”: Costs, Safety, Waste, and Proliferation [1]. All these have become more salient in the past decade due to various causes such as the economic downturn, the Fukushima nuclear accidents, the continuing failure to site and operate a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive wastes, and the rapid decline in renewable energy costs………

This paper offers such an examination of the development of new reactor designs over the last few years. During this period, much hope has been invested in what are called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as a possible way to address all four of the abovementioned key problems with existing nuclear reactor designs and fuel cycles and thereby offer a brighter future for nuclear power. SMR designs typically have power levels between 10 and 300 MWe, much smaller than the 1000–1600 MWe reactor designs that have become standard [42], [43] and [44]. Several countries are in the fray to develop SMRs, including the United States, Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea, India, and Argentina. Several of these countries are providing substantial government support for such reactors.¹ Regulatory agencies in these countries are also in the process of grappling with licensing SMRs, many of which incorporate novel features in their designs [46].

Proponents of SMRs have made extensive claims, directed both at large industrialized countries and developing countries, about the purported benefits of SMRs and their abilities to help meet various social and environmental goals.² These claims are echoed by government departments such as the U.S. Department of Energy and international bodies charged with promoting nuclear power such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Many of these actors have also fostered an expectation that the SMR market will be large [48], [49] and [50].³

This paper starts with an overview of the claims made by SMR proponents aimed at persuading policy makers and the public about the virtues of the technology, and how these relate to the social priorities listed earlier. We then examine the technical characteristics of SMRs and show that, rather than capturing all four of these desirable features, the leading SMR designs under development involve choices and trade-offs between desired features. This implies that SMRs are unlikely to solve all the challenges confronting nuclear power, and indeed, by focusing on some aspects, might make other challenges more acute. The paper then concludes with a brief discussion of the other cultural and political factors that contribute to the widespread enthusiasm for these reactors, despite technical and historical reasons to doubt that the promises offered will be actually realized…………http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629614000486

August 18, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology