Current status of SMRs and S&MRs development in the world

Navigating the Path of Least Resistance to Sustainable, Widespread Adoption of Nuclear Power

“…Themanifold scaled-down reactor designs, such as the plethora of small modular reactor concepts (SMR, typically defined as ≤300 MWe or ≤1000 MWth)) [5,20,31] potentially promise, based on manufacturer claims, to reduce capital and operational costs and construction times (both by at least half for the nth unit as claimed by various companies), and have greater flexibility of operation and in potential sites due to lower plant sizes [5]. These reactors suffer from marginally (5-10%) decreased overall operational efficiency and increased waste outputs relative to large reactors [20,32] and, in any case, none of these are yet operational or even past the licensing stage for most designs at the time of writing [5,33], being partially restrained by the more onerous regulatory requirements placed on large reactor designs for which the licensing process was designed [5]. Indeed, some proposed plants have been cancelled before ground has even been broken [34].…”

“…Thirdly, the augmentation of the large reactor fleet with SMRs based on established technology (i.e., LWRs [20,33]) should begin in earnest. This would incorporate expedited licensing procedures for these designs, which are often tailored far more toward large plants [58] and, thus, are not necessarily fit for an SMR assessment.…”