Utilities Eye Mini Nuclear Reactors as Climate Concerns Grow
Despite the enticement of carbon-free power, critics say small modular reactors have the same safety and cost challenges of big nukes
The U.S. Energy Department says it would invest $3.2 billion over seven years to support the development of small modular reactors, like X Energy’s TRISO-X.
U.S. utilities are looking to miniature nuclear reactors, as they seek a steady energy source that can help reduce the carbon emissions linked to climate change.
While power companies have stopped building big nuclear reactors because of cost overruns and construction delays, not all utilities are giving up on nuclear power.
Several U.S. utilities and power consortia—including Energy Northwest, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, and PacifiCorp, part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. —have entered into partnerships with manufacturers to build small modular reactors, or SMRs attracted to their potential to produce carbon-free, 24-hour-a-day power.
Dozens of SMR developers worldwide—ranging from 22-person startup Oklo to Bill Gates-founded TerraPower—are testing designs for the reactors, which have less than a third of the generating capacity of traditional nukes and have components that can be mass-produced in factories.
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