Nuclear reactors - going smaller, quicker and cheaper

    We could be less than 10 years away from commercially viable, small scale nuclear plants. More likely by 2025, though (although the Russians may be only a year or two away). That’s the view of Matt Robinson at Australia-based engineering consultancy WorleyParsons. The company is now engaged in nuclear projects in 18 countries and is providing design services for a US-based small modular reactor (SMR) company.

As he writes in the latest bulletin from the Australian Uranium Association, Robinson says that, since nuclear power was first deployed commercially 60 or so years ago, the general direction has been toward 1,000 megawatt or even larger reactors. He says the nuclear industry was adopting the same, big-scale mindset as developers of thermal power stations.

But at the same time, smaller-scale nuclear power technology was being developed, mainly for military use (think submarines). But, in the 1990s, the global nuclear industry noted the shift in the non-nuclear sector towards smaller units (gas turbines and diesel powered units particularly).

So that’s how we are now moving in the direction of the SMR; those likely to first commercial developments are based on conventional light water reactors; there is also one liquid metal, fast reactor design under development in Russia. Robinson says power outputs range from 35 megawatts to 350MW; some group more than one module to achieve generating capacity of more than 500MW. These can be barge-mounted designs built in shipyards. Refuelling intervals can stretch from two to eight years.

However, he says that SMR economics are still somewhat uncertain but are based on lower capital costs, with quicker revenue streams being established because of faster installation times. Construction time, he says, is about the same as an equivalent-sized fossil-fuel plant. Capital cost estimates vary from $3000 to $10,000 per kilowatt hour.

As he writes: “SMRs are intended for areas where additional base load grid support is required but where a large plant is not justified or the grid will not cope with 1,000MW-scale units. SMRs are also intended for remote or developing regions where increasing electricity demand growth is expected and delivery of fossil fuels in costly”.

He feels the most promising designs might be available by 2020, or more likely by 2025. However, the Russian designs, particularly the small 35MW barge-mounted designs are under construction now for deployment to the Russian Arctic by 2013.