Small Modular Reactors—Does Asia Need This Technology Overhaul?

Only seven countries across Asia have gone down the civilian nuclear energy route while the aspirations of reducing energy poverty and reducing reliance on fossil fuels are a target for almost all, especially given the considerations of climate change. Until the events that unfolded at Fukushima, the plans for nuclear in other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia were bullish but have seen a marked decrease in the pace of activity in subsequent years. Large construction periods and the associated delays (and cost increase) and social resistance (perceived risks) have dulled the pace of development. Can Asia rethink the role of the conventional, large, resource-intensive power plant and look at novel solutions? Small and modular reactors (SMR) provide a window of opportunity to realise the potential of nuclear energy, while also addressing issues on safety, waste handling and land footprint in a concerted manner. More importantly, the ever-elusive promise of electrification for all communities spread far and wide (a feature of rural Asia) has remained unfulfilled. This chapter provides an overview of the opportunities for and challenges that are likely to be faced by SMR proponents. While there are no commercially operating units globally, Asia must stay connected to the developments so as to embrace or reject the technology after fully understanding its merits.

[1]  Raymond L. Murray,et al.  Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Power Stations: Proceedings of a Symposium, New York, August 10–14, 1970 organized by IAEA in cooperation with USAEC. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1971. $25.00 , 1971 .

[2]  R. C. Schwing,et al.  Societal Risk Assessment: How Safe is Safe Enough? , 1980 .

[3]  R. Schwing,et al.  Societal Risk Assessment , 1980 .

[4]  Heinz Termuehlen,et al.  Clean and Efficient Coal-Fired Power Plants , 2003 .

[5]  Daniel M Kammen,et al.  What history can teach us about the future costs of U.S. nuclear power. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  Andrew Palmer,et al.  Nuclear power in Singapore , 2010 .

[7]  Declan Butler,et al.  Nuclear safety: Reactors, residents and risk , 2011, Nature.

[8]  Jasmina L. Vujic,et al.  Small modular reactors: Simpler, safer, cheaper? , 2012 .

[9]  N. Fueyo,et al.  Energy Security, Sustainability, and Affordability in Asia and the Pacific , 2014 .

[10]  Mark Cooper,et al.  THE ECONOMIC FAILURE OF NUCLEAR POWER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW CARBON ELECTRICITY FUTURE: WHY SMALL MODULAR REACTORS ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION , 2014 .

[11]  Radek Škoda,et al.  Comparison of Small Modular Reactor and Large Nuclear Reactor Fuel Cost , 2014 .

[12]  Steve Fetter,et al.  Implications of small modular reactors for climate change mitigation , 2014 .

[13]  M. Ramana,et al.  Back to the Future , 2015 .

[14]  Sara Boarin,et al.  Economics and financing of small modular reactors (SMRs) , 2015 .

[15]  Paul S. Fischbeck,et al.  The environmental competitiveness of small modular reactors: A life cycle study , 2016 .

[16]  Daniel T. Ingersoll.  Fad or future , 2016 .

[17]  Arthur Yip,et al.  Historical construction costs of global nuclear power reactors , 2016 .