Nascent technologies don’t come more hyped than small modular nuclear reactors. These pint-sized nukes, which are expected to be operational in the UK by the mid-2030s, have won fans from the public sector and tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft. Yet the glowing case for SMRs appears to be fading already.
The technology has attracted a lot of interest, and with good reason. Even the largest SMR designs, with a production capacity of 350 megawatts, are some 10 times smaller than the UK’s Hinkley Point C plant. That’s one reason why upfront investment costs are lower and build times shorter — adding to the attractions of nuclear as part of the cleaner global energy system.
If all the stars align — which is to say that government policy is supportive, industry delivers and the technology works — there could be a global fleet of 1,000 SMRs with aggregate capacity of 120 gigawatts by 2050, the International Energy Agency forecasts. That is one-tenth of the combined overall nuclear capacity pledged by 30 countries in that year. Governments are pressing forward. In the UK, engineering group Rolls-Royce last month won approval to site its maiden SMRs off the coast of Wales.