Myth:
Small modular reactors are the solution to the climate crisis, as they are cheap, clean and safe.
Fact:
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are mini-nuclear power plants, similar to the units used in American aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. They have been touted as viable sources of zero-emissions energy but actually suffer from the same problems as their full-scale counterparts. At the moment, there is only one SMR operating in the world – Russia’s 70 megawatt floating nuclear power plant, which is used to provide electricity to isolated settlements on the Arctic coast. This reactor cost 37 billion roubles (A$688 million) to build and produces power at five times the cost of renewable energy in Australia. China’s demonstration 210 MW high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is proving slightly less expensive to run but is nowhere near competitive with renewable energy sources or with large-scale nuclear plants. The only way the costs of SMRs could be reduced to a competitive level would be to mass produce them, but there is no sign of this happening.
Prior to the 2025 election in Australia, the Coalition mooted the idea of replacing the nation’s ageing coal fired power stations with SMRs. To do so would require 71 such reactors, but these could not be built until most of Australia’s coal-fired plants had already closed down – leaving the country with significant power shortages. In addition, the Department of Energy has estimated that the cost of building 71 SMRs would be $387 billion, or $18,167 a kilowatt, compared with $1,058 a kilowatt for large-scale solar projects and $1,989 for onshore wind. Even if the ultimate cost of SMRs proved to be much less, they would still be uncompetitive, short of massive taxpayer subsidies.
Artist’s impression of a small modular reactor [Source: NuScale Power]
Sources:
Jim Green, “Nuclear power’s long decline in shadow of wind and solar,” Renew Economy, 29/9/21
Jim Green, Small nuclear reactors, huge costs,” Renew Economy, 11/20/21
Mark Schwarz, “Stanford-led research finds small modular reactors will exacerbate challenges of highly radioactive nuclear waste,” Stanford News, 30/5/22
Graham Readfearn, “‘Unproven’ small nuclear reactors would raise Australia’s energy costs and delay renewable uptake, report says,” The Guardian, 5/10/22
Allison Macfarlane, “The end of Oppenheimer’s nuclear energy dream: Modular reactors supported by ideology alone,” Renew Economy, 29/7/23
Daniel Hurst, “Replacing Australia’s retiring coal power stations with small nuclear reactors could cost $387bn, analysis suggests,” The Guardian, 18/9/23
Giles Parkinson, “Coalition’s nuclear SMR poster boy cancels flagship project due to soaring costs,” Renew Economy, 9/11/23
Jim Green, “Small modular nuclear reactors: a history of failure,” Renew Economy, 28/11/23
Ed Lyman, “Five things the ‘nuclear bros’ don’t want you to know about small modular reactors,” Renew Economy, 2/5/24
David Schlissel & Dennis Wamstead, “Memo to Peter Dutton: New study shows SMRs too costly, too slow, too risky,” Renew Economy, 31/5/24
Giles Parkinson, “French nuclear giant scraps SMR plans due to soaring costs, will start over,” Renew Economy, 2/7/24