Benefits of SMRS
What are the benefits of SMRs
Advantages of SMRs
Many of the benefits of SMRs are inherently linked to the nature of their design – small and modular. Given their smaller footprint, SMRs can be sited on locations not suitable for larger nuclear power plants. Prefabricated units of SMRs can be manufactured and then shipped and installed on site, making them more affordable to build than large power reactors, which are often custom designed for a particular location, sometimes leading to construction delays. SMRs offer savings in cost and construction time, and they can be deployed incrementally to match increasing energy demand.
One of the challenges to accelerating access to energy is infrastructure – limited grid coverage in rural areas – and the costs of grid connection for rural electrification. A single power plant should represent no more than 10 per cent of the total installed grid capacity. In areas lacking sufficient lines of transmission and grid capacity, SMRs can be installed into an existing grid or remotely off-grid, as a function of its smaller electrical output, providing low-carbon power for industry and the population. This is particularly relevant for microreactors, which are a subset of SMRs designed to generate electrical power typically up to 10 MW(e). Microreactors have smaller footprints than other SMRs and will be better suited for regions inaccessible to clean, reliable and affordable energy. Furthermore, microreactors could serve as a backup power supply in emergency situations or replace power generators that are often fuelled by diesel, for example, in rural communities or remote businesses.
In comparison to existing reactors, proposed SMR designs are generally simpler, and the safety concept for SMRs often relies more on passive systems and inherent safety characteristics of the reactor, such as low power and operating pressure. This means that in such cases no human intervention or external power or force is required to shut down systems, because passive systems rely on physical phenomena, such as natural circulation, convection, gravity and self-pressurization. These increased safety margins, in some cases, eliminate or significantly lower the potential for unsafe releases of radioactivity to the environment and the public in case of an accident.
SMRs have reduced fuel requirements. Power plants based on SMRs may require less frequent refuelling, every 3 to 7 years, in comparison to between 1 and 2 years for conventional plants. Some SMRs are designed to operate for up to 30 years without refuelling.
SMRs - A Smaller Footprint than a Conventional Reactor.
According to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, SMRs could form part of Australia’s future low-carbon energy mix, utilising existing transmission infrastructure and contributing to baseload power, or providing dispatchable power in a high-renewables grid.
Great expectations on SMRs: A low-carbon energy transition for the developing world
SMRs have lower capital costs and shorter construction times than the reactors associated with traditional nuclear power plants. Having lower energy output, they can also work with lower-capacity grids. They can be sited in remote and less-developed areas and can even be retrofitted to existing infrastructure when coal-fired plants are decommissioned. The modular design means they can be easily built—and in time expanded—to match local power demand.
IAEA Publications
18 October 2024
Imagine in Australia supplying 10,000 homes and entire cities with constant C02 neutral energy for 20 years!
That’s what SMRs can DELIVER
International Conference Discusses Safety of Evolutionary and Innovative Reactor Designs
As evolutionary and innovative reactor designs get closer to deployment in several countries, regulators are defining the best approaches for evaluating their safety and licensing their operation. This topic is centre stage at the four-day International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Installation Safety: Strengthening Safety of Evolutionary and Innovative Reactor Designs (TIC2022), which opened at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna today.
Five Key Resilient Features of SMRs
Having a resilient and secure grid is crucial. As is consistent and cheaper electricity for Australian families and small and medium sized firms. So according to the US Department of Energy what are the key resilient features of SMRs:
SMRs can start up from a completely de-energized state without receiving energy from the grid. This can help an electricity grid meet system requirements in terms of voltage, frequency and other attributes when recovering from an outage.
SMRS can operate connected to the grid or independently. If attached to a microgrid with islanding, an SMR could power critical facilities such as hospitals, data centers and military bases.
SMRs can be built underground—making them less vulnerable to extreme weather events, earthquakes, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threats and other intentional destructive acts.
SMRs can easily store fuel on-site, allowing them to run, in some instances, for a decade or more without the need of an external fuel supply. Plants can also stagger the refueling of its modules—allowing them to stay online and provide constant power to the grid without any disruptions.
SMRs have a modular design that minimize the use of electrical parts. Many of them use passive cooling features that don’t require any safety-related electric pumps or operator intervention to safely shut down.
Learn more about small modular reactors.
SMRs: A Realist Approach to the Future of Nuclear Power
The Information Technology & innovation Foundation argue that standard large nuclear reactors won’t achieve scale or cost competitiveness with alternative energy sources. Hence, government’s should focus resources on small modular reactors, which are a more promising technology with the potential to achieve price and performance parity.
