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Biased and unreliable – UK’s ‘Expert Finance Working Group on Small Modular Reactors’

NFLA 8th Aug 2018 , The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) notes the report by the ‘Expert
Finance Working Group on Small Modular Reactors’ as another attempt to
promote the benefits of this technology despite large and quite possibly
insurmountable hurdles to cross.

The report was commissioned by the UK
Government to consider ways to provide market frameworks for the
development of small nuclear reactors to prosper. The Government suggests
it is an ‘independent’ group, yet at least half of the group have
strong links to the nuclear industry, including the Nuclear Industry
Association, the main UK supporter for such technology.

Over the past few
years, the UK Government has put forward the potential of small nuclear
reactors to be a part of a future ‘low carbon’ energy mix. The UK
appear to be one of the few governments pursuing such a strategy, as even
France and Finland, the only other countries in Europe currently developing
large nuclear projects, have no plans to develop such technology. Indeed
France has just commissioned a whole raft of new smaller-scale solar energy
projects.
http://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/small-modular-nuclear-reactors-financing-report-nfla-remain-sceptical-such-technology-as-cost-effective-as-renewables/

August 10, 2018 - Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK

1 Comment »

  1. Every time a given nuclear reactor, whether large or small, is brought into a state of criticality to function, there is a risk of the criticality going wrong and out of control, causing an explosion and/or spreading nuclear contamination into the environment, whether solid fuel rod design or molten salt design (e.g. Thorium LFTR). Even Thorium LFTR could case major problems if the continuous along-side chemical reprocessing were to develop a major fault, with hard gamma radiation being a particular hazard. Thus, the more criticalities about in large numbers of reactors, the more chance that one of these reactors will develop a high dangerous condition. Thus, there is a fundamental error in thinking that SMR’s are somehow safer than larger nuclear facilities. The UK Government’s strategy in this matter is very flawed and huge amounts of British tax payers money is about to be wasted in ill-thought-out projects. Please try to avoid over-optimistic sales people touting “Thorium LFTR”, namely sales people who have never actually built a working example and have not properly considered the hazards of operating such working examples. Mark my words: “there will be some terrible accidents with SMR’s in the United Kingdom in future”.

    Dr Timothy Norris's avatar Comment by Dr Timothy Norris | August 10, 2018 | Reply


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