SMRs: Fueling a Nuclear Revival? – Serene’s Synopsis 79
Resistance to nuclear energy spiked following the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima, but as years have passed and urgency to address the climate change crisis has grown, many are reconsidering nuclear energy as an energy source. According to Our World in Data, nuclear fission produces almost no GHG emissions and requires less land to generate electricity than both fossil fuels and renewables, along with being one of the safest ways to generate power. Europe and Asia are planning to commence operation on new reactors and in Japan, traditional reactors that were shut down after the Fukushima disaster are being revived.
One reason countries like the US are reconsidering nuclear energy is because of the development of SMRs, or small modular reactors, which make nuclear energy more accessible because of their reduced costs, size, and construction times. A single Russian ship has been docked off the Siberian coast for four years, providing energy to about 200,000 people using SMR technology. However, though SMRs are employed on several submarines, including dozens of US subs, China is the only country so far to get an SMR working on land. Advancements are also occurring as many countries are trying to establish self-sufficiency in an attempt to distance themselves from Russia, as the country dominates the market for HALEU, enriched uranium used to fuel SMRs.
In late 2023, the US canceled a landmark SMR demonstration project, as it had almost doubled in projected costs, but in many ways, the US is still playing a key role in SMR research. The US has a bit of an advantage when it comes to working with other nations, as its Nuclear Regulatory Commission is respected by much of Europe for its reputation of thoroughly ensuring safety. The first SMR design in the US was approved in 2020, and two SMRs in Poland were built through a company owned by both Japan and the US, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, using funding from US financial agencies.
As SMR technology advances, many nations are racing to take advantage of the gap in this fresh market as soon as possible. However, the US has a disadvantage to nations with more authoritarian governments that don’t need to justify the financial risk, such as China and Russia. Nuclear fission projects are becoming more and more known for being over budget and behind schedule, making it difficult to convince investors to allocate large sums of money towards nuclear energy. Considering the risk associated with nuclear’s reputation combined with relatively little collective knowledge about SMRs, it is unlikely that the US will pioneer the frontier of SMR innovation.
Since SMR technology is still extremely new, it is hard to tell how popular it will become, as its success depends on both the outcomes of current projects and the fluctuating opinions of citizens about nuclear energy, amongst a landscape of other factors. Progress in SMR technology is highly dependent on cost, as it is hard to compete with energy from cheap fossil fuels; investing in expensive nuclear reactors is not attractive when fossil fuels can guarantee a return on investment. By holding the fossil fuel industry financially responsible for its damage to the environment, prices for energy generated from fossil fuels will rise to more closely match clean alternatives while raising funds to fight climate change.
It’s been a little while since I’ve talked about nuclear energy on here, especially SMRs. I’m starting a club this semester that will spend quite a bit of time discussing nuclear energy, and I wanted to check in on global progress and perspectives on the controversial energy source. I keep seeing that nuclear energy costs have been increasing, unlike renewables, which have basically only decreased in cost since their invention, but I’m not sure why. I will certainly look into it, though, along with other nuclear news! Stay tuned to learn with me!
CNN News is known for “Mostly Factual” reporting, however this rating includes both the TV station and website, the latter of which is noted as holding a more objective stance.
https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-per-energy-source https://ourworldindata.org/nuclear-energy