Feature: Small modular nuclear reactors - the future of energy?

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Flibe modular reactor is designed to be transported in cargo containers (Image: Flibe)

Concept art of Flibe modular nuclear reactor installed at military base (Image: Flibe)

Cutaway of a Hyperion reactor installation (Image: Hyperion Power Generation)

mPower reactor installation cross section (Image: Babcock and Wilcox)

Diagram of the NuScale reactor (Image: KVDP)

Diagram of the Westinghouse SMR showing it's various features (Image: Westinghouse)

Traditional nuclear power: the Tricastin nuclear power plant in France

Gizmag takes an in-depth look at small modular nuclear reactors and wonders if they hold the key to solving the world's energy and nuclear waste challenges (Photo: Shutterstock)

Article Summary

This year is an historic one for nuclear power, with the first reactors winning U.S. government approval for construction since 1978. Some have seen the green lighting of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors to be built in Georgia as the start of a revival of nuclear power in the West, but this may be a false dawn because of the problems besetting conventional reactors. It may be that when a new boom in nuclear power comes, it won't be led by giant gigawatt installations, but by batteries of small modular reactors (SMRs) with very different principles from those of previous generations. But though a technology of great diversity and potential, many obstacles stand in its path. Gizmag takes an in-depth look at the many forms of SMRs, their advantages, and the challenges they must overcome.