Energy 101: Small Modular Reactors

Advanced small modular reactors could change the way we think about reliable, clean and affordable nuclear power.

Instead of going big, scientists and engineers went small developing mini reactors that are roughly a third of the size of a typical nuclear power plant.

That means America’s largest clean energy source could be coming to a market near you—making nuclear more scalable and flexible than ever before.

Advanced SMRs offer many advantages, such as relatively small size, reduced capital investment, ability to be sited in locations not possible for larger nuclear plants, and provisions for incremental power additions. SMRs also offer distinct safeguards, security and nonproliferation advantages.

The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting the development and deployment of advanced SMRs to help meet the nation’s economic, environmental and energy security needs.

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[kevinmoore]

Clean reliable energy. I like that about nuclear. Keep up posting these great vids.

[mahamansanialka]

I always believed in technology of new nukes...we should have faith in good people to lead the way....

[planetsec]

Let's not let China beat us on this one, they are heading in this direction too, we're essentially in a nuclear race, this is more important than fusion in many respects as fusion is a long ways off from being achieved let alone going commercial.

[alwayscensored]

NASA made a 4KW Stirling engine thermal reactor the size of a chair. Smaller 1KW ones could power individual homes.

[mnminnmn]

what the hell are we waiting for? all the good stuff is always just a few years away!

[nemo]

Very interesting. Any word on the licensing processes for NuScale or Hitachi's reactor?

[gravitaslost]

I'm fully on board with nuclear reactors being the future of baseload power production, but they've got to be high efficiency, molten salt reactors. The risks involved with current designs requiring high pressure containment are why they attract such heavy regulation, with the inherent high cost and lengthy completion times, just ditch them, they're shit.

[ae]

If anything’s going to do the job it’s the SMR stuff in the screenshot. Transporting a pre-built reactor by truck and hooking it up is as easy as it gets for nuclear reactors. The safety stuff’s self-contained!

[platin]

Thorium or Uranium? I prefer the first.

[acepaul]

If this can be packaged with a hydrogen manufacturing facility we can bypass electric cars completely. The local gas station can have gasoline or hydrogen pumps and unlike electric cars it's not going to take hours to refill. SMR's can also be used for desalination plants and crypto miners. This could be the game changer we all need.

[Jon]

Whatever happened to orbital generator stations and microwave power transmission, looks like that's being scrubbed from the history books.

[josephmartin]

In my opinion it would help a lot if Secretary Granholm & her Team would explain to Youth that while transitioning to Renewables, America & the World needs to use a combination of all Energies, since we still don't know how to make plastics & nylon & cosmetics & medicines & carbon fiber & fertilizers without Gas & Oil & steady electricity from Nuclear & Coal, that Industry needs time & talent & skills . Bring some common sense to the conversation. The disasters of Texas Electric Grid & Boeing P&W exploding jet fuel engines prove training & skills is the key. The Secretary & Pr.Biden have a great case for more training funds & laptops, tablets & broadband for the whole Country . Hope this comment here does not get deleted, like in the rest of social media.

[josephmartin]

In my opinion, fresh water & hydrogen demand a portable & secure energy hardware solution.

[conradamparo]

Why complicate and risk Power Generations with too sophisticated and hazardous Technology. .
No matter what rationalzations and current developments, no man made technologies are fail safe and guarranteed secure in this world.

[davidmiller]

But they use a finite supply of fuel.
Not s renewable source

[JAGRAFX]

Practically all of the commercial nuclear plant are water type reactors as are the proposals for the small modular reactors [SMR's]. These plants have a common thermal efficiency rating typically in the low thirty percent range; placing them practically in the category of automobiles as far as poor thermal efficiency goes. For every three thermal kilowatts generated in the reactor; two of those KW's are doing nothing but heating the environment. With these kind of numbers; one would think that nuclear excess reject heat energy could be used for Desalination or Hydrogen production or even other forms of environmental cleanup. Even if one is farm growing main lobsters and abalone; it would be some commercial offset for the upward cascading Operations & Maintenance costs which are bound to happen. Any nuclear plant is like purchasing a large yacht. Your price to get the thing is just the down payment.

[brettaugustine]

Tell me. Are the used fuel rods and the water used to cool them safe for people to be around ? No ? Then its not clean energy. It's a temporary bandaid, they are scarily vulnerable as far as security goes and they are a disaster waiting to happen. Either put more money into nuclear fusion, the only actual clean "nuclear" fuel source or switch to 100% solar, wind, dams etc ..

[kitemg]

And what about nuclear waste? Is the waste clean? What about Thorium SMRs? Safety, reliability and "be easy to build" is only one side. Sustainability and reprocessing are also very important. What about the posibility to use the Waste as a Bomb? That should not be able to happen!

[tigham]

Chernobyl, Chernobyl, Chernobyl. And Fukushima