nuclear-news

“Big nuclear reactor” lobby fights back against “Small nuclear reactor” lobby

 Can it be possible that the hottest nuclear reactor design in the United
States right now is not a sexy Small Modular Reactor (SMR) or an exotic
advanced reactor but a BBR: Big Boring Reactor?

Specifically, I’m talking about Westinghouse’ flagship AP1000 reactor. Me an a few other nuclear activists have been jumping up and down about how in the wake of the Vogtle
build in Georgia finally coming on line, we need to turn around and build
more AP1000s.

I’m also used to these entreaties falling on deaf ears. For
so long the chorus for new-builds in the US was “Small Modular Reactors
and Advanced only.” With the collapse of NuScale’s first-of-a-kind
(FOAK) Carbon-Free Power Project, there’s also dawning understanding that
SMRs are not magic and are highly subject to FOAK costs too. “For the
first time, three utilities have come to us and said ‘we were thinking
about SMRs but AP1000s seem like a lower risk.’”

 Elemental Energy 26th Feb 2024

https://elementalenergy.substack.com/p/rethinking-gigawatt-scale-is-bigger

February 28, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized