Mini nuclear reactors Thinking small Nuclear power: Combining several small reactors based on simple, proven designs could be a better approach than building big ones

Dec 9th 2010 | from PRINT EDITION

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WHEN the two big nuclear reactors under construction at Flamanville in France and Olkiluoto in Finland come on stream, each will boast enough electricity-generating capacity to light up a city of 1.5m. But despite the best efforts of EDF and Areva, which are building the reactors, both are behind schedule and, at over $5 billion apiece, well over budget. With results like these, it is little wonder that the vaunted “nuclear renaissance” has failed to materialise. In fact, the number of operating reactors is in decline, spurring the nuclear-power industry to look for new approaches. Rather than relying on huge, traditional reactors costing billions, it is turning to small, inexpensive ones, many of which are based on proven designs from nuclear submarines or warships.
A global race is under way to develop small-reactor designs, says Paul Genoa of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry body in Washington, DC. He estimates that more than 20 countries have expressed serious interest in buying mini-reactors.
At least eight different approaches are being developed, mainly in America and Asia, by an army of 3,000 nuclear engineers, according to Ron Moleschi of SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, an engineering firm based in Montreal. Regulatory and licensing procedures are lengthy, so little will be built until around 2017, he says. But after that the industry is expected to take off. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that by 2030 at least 40 (and possibly more than 90) small reactors will be in operation. It reckons that more than half of the countries that will build nuclear plants in coming years will plump for these smaller, simpler designs. More at:

http://www.economist.com/node/17647651?story_id=17647651&fsrc=rss

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