Are Very Small Nuclear Reactors the Future of Electricity Production?

Are Very Small Nuclear Reactors² the Future of Electricity Production?

New, very small nuclear reactors are changing the way people think about the complex form of renewable energy.

Such reactors produce one hundredth of the electricity produced by nuclear power plants. They are small enough to be moved on a truck.

However, very small nuclear reactors can produce enough electricity to run a small college, a hospital or a military base. Some universities are taking an interest.

"What we see is these advanced reactor¹ technologies having a real future in decarbonizing the energy landscape in the U.S. and around the world," said Caleb Brooks³. He is a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The small reactors have some of the same problems as the large ones. These problems include how to deal with radioactive waste and how to make sure they are secure. Supporters say those problems can be solved and that the benefits outweigh⁴ the risks.

Some universities are interested in the technology because it could replace coal and gas energy. They say those forms of energy cause climate change.

The University of Illinois aims to develop the technology as part of a clean energy future, Brooks said. The school plans to ask for government permission to build a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor developed by the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation. The school aims to start operating it by early 2028. Brooks leads the project.

Jacopo Buongiorno is a professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said these small reactors, called microreactors, will be "transformative" because they will change how power is provided. He said they can be built in factories and can easily be connected to a local power system.

"That's what we want to see, nuclear energy on demand as a product, not as a big, mega project," he said.

Marc Nichol is a director for new reactors at the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C. He and Buongiorno consider the interest by universities as the start of a new movement.

Last year, Pennsylvania State University signed a document to work with Westinghouse on microreactor technology. Mike Shaqqo, the company's top vice⁵ president for advanced reactor programs, said universities are going to be "one of our key early adopters for this technology."

Professor Jean Paul Allain is head of Penn State's nuclear engineering department. He said the university wants to prove the technology so that industries, such as steel and cement manufacturers, can use it. Those two industries usually burn oil or gas and give off, or emit, a lot of carbon gasses. Using a microreactor also could be one of several ways to help the university use less natural gas to reach its long-term carbon emissions⁶ goals, he said.

About twenty U.S. universities have reactors for research. But using them for energy is new.

The University of Illinois's Brooks said the extra heat from burning coal and gas to make electricity is often wasted. But steam production from the nuclear microreactor is a carbon-free way to provide heat for large buildings in the Midwest and Northeast. A college usually has hundreds of buildings.

Microreactors are less costly⁷

Washington, D.C.-based Last Energy has built a microreactor in Brookshire, Texas. The company is taking it apart and moving it to Austin for the South by Southwest conference and festival in March.

Last Energy's founder⁸ Bret Kugelmass said he is working with officials in Britain, Poland and Romania. He aims to get his first reactor running in Europe by 2025. He said the climate crisis is urgent so carbon-free energy is needed soon.

"It has to be a small, manufactured product as opposed to a large...construction project," he said.

Traditional nuclear power centers cost billions of dollars. For example, two additional reactors at a plant in Georgia will cost more than $30 billion.

The total cost of Last Energy's microreactor, including all the required work is under $100 million, the company said.

Westinghouse has been a major manufacturer in the nuclear industry for over 70 years. The company is developing its own microreactor called eVinci. The company plans to get the technology ready by 2027. Also, the U.S. Department of Defense⁹ is working on a microreactor project at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Possible problems ahead

Not everyone supports microreactors, however.

Edwin Lyman is the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit group. He called the movement "completely unjustified."

Lyman said microreactors would require much more uranium to be mined and enriched for each unit of electricity than for normal reactors. He said fuel costs would be much higher, and microreactors would produce more uranium waste than full-sized reactors.

A 2022 study from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California found that smaller modular reactors produce more waste than normal, or conventional reactors. Modular reactors are larger than microreactors but smaller than conventional ones.

Lindsay Krall was the lead writer of the study. She said the design of microreactors would make them produce more waste. Lyman said she does not support microreactors.

Lyman added that he worries terrorists would target microreactors. He said some designs would use fuels that terrorists might want for simple nuclear weapons. Lyman's group does not oppose using nuclear power but wants to make sure it is safe.

The United States does not have a national storage center for nuclear fuel waste. More microreactors, Lyman said, would only make the problem worse.

But Kugelmass of Last Energy sees only promise. Nuclear, he said, will be important to the world's "energy transformation¹⁰ moving forward."

Words in This Story

advanced –adj. having new or higher-level technology

benefits –n. (often pl.) the good results of doing something

mega –adj. extremely large

key –adj. a very important part of something

early adopter –n. a person or group that starts using a new product or service as soon as it becomes available and does not worry about cost or problems

unjustified –adj. unnecessary or not supported by facts

unit –n. a standard amount of something used for measurement or comparison

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

3 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。