Small nuclear reactors are grabbing headlines as the next great hope to meet growing demand for electricity. The nuclear industry is developing small modular reactors that generate less than 300 megawatts of electric power and can be assembled in factories. Proponents claim these designs will be cheaper and produce fewer radioactive byproducts versus conventional large-scale reactors.

There is another side to the story. Several credible studies take issue with the concept. One such counterpoint is a 2022 study from the National Academy of Sciences. “Our results show that most small modular reactor designs will actually increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal, by factors of 2 to 30 for the reactors in our case study,” said study lead author Lindsay Krall, a former MacArthur Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). “These findings stand in sharp contrast to the cost and waste reduction benefits that advocates have claimed for advanced nuclear technologies.”

The Union of Concerned Scientists has reached a similar conclusion.

For more:

https://blog.ucsusa.org/edwin-lyman/five-things-the-nuclear-bros-dont-want-you-to-know-about-small-modular-reactors/