Small modular reactor (SMR) adoption: Opportunities and challenges for emerging markets

Geoffrey Black, David Shropshire, Kathleen Araújo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The growth in global energy demand, coupled with priorities to address a changing climate and sustainable development, has brought attention to the need for informed development of low-carbon energy sources in both developed and emerging economies. Fossil fuels are likely to continue playing a role in energy utilization, however low carbon sources-including nuclear and renewable energy sources-require critical consideration for adapting the global energy system in line with current pressures. The need for changes in energy provision is particularly important given that the production of electricity is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions on a global level, particularly in emerging economies. With low carbon energy priorities, nuclear energy has the potential to meet a critical share of related targets, presenting both challenges and opportunities for commercial adoption of nuclear power. An emerging share of future electricity and heat demand could be met by the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs). Several characteristics of SMRs are expected to provide distinct advantages over large nuclear and potentially other baseload plants in certain markets. Such advantages stem from the reactors’ smaller size, simplicity of design, modularity, operational flexibility, incremental adoption, their ability to be deployed in areas where the infrastructure to support large power plants is insufficient, as well as the ability to integrate with renewable energy sources and provide a range of nonelectrical cogeneration and hybrid process applications, make SMRs to features make them a unique, low-carbon energy technology that may be deployed in a diverse set of locations and applications. This chapter couples the unique features of SMRs with demand, policy, and locational characteristics to evaluate deployment potential across a wide range of emerging market conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
Subtitle of host publicationSecond Edition
Pages557-593
Number of pages37
ISBN (Electronic)9780128239162
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Deployment indicators
  • Disruptive changes
  • Energy decision analysis
  • Low carbon
  • SMR

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Small modular reactor (SMR) adoption: Opportunities and challenges for emerging markets'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this