> The nuclear industry will have to address the cost challenge with urgency if it is to participate in the huge growth opportunity that low-carbon power presents. At current levels, the cost gap is just too great for nuclear to grow rapidly,” said David Brown, Director, Energy Transition Service at Wood Mackenzie, and lead author of the report.
> The current costs of small modular reactors (SMRs), which analysts and governments believe could be the future of nuclear power, is even higher than the current generation of PWRs and much higher than wind, solar, natural gas, and coal power generation.
> The promise of SMRs is that it’s a shorter-cycle approach and could avoid some of the manufacturing and commissioning pitfalls that giant PWR projects have encountered, WoodMac notes.
> “SMRs are designed to be modular, factory-assembled and scalable. They are expected to be quicker to market, with a target construction time of three to five years compared with the ‘nameplate’ 10 years needed to build a large PWR,” Brown says.
> The key to at-scale adoption of SMRs will be how fast costs could fall and potentially make this type of nuclear energy generation cost-competitive with other forms of energy, especially renewables.
> The nuclear industry will have to address the cost challenge with urgency if it is to participate in the huge growth opportunity that low-carbon power presents. At current levels, the cost gap is just too great for nuclear to grow rapidly,” said David Brown, Director, Energy Transition Service at Wood Mackenzie, and lead author of the report.
> The current costs of small modular reactors (SMRs), which analysts and governments believe could be the future of nuclear power, is even higher than the current generation of PWRs and much higher than wind, solar, natural gas, and coal power generation.
> The promise of SMRs is that it’s a shorter-cycle approach and could avoid some of the manufacturing and commissioning pitfalls that giant PWR projects have encountered, WoodMac notes.
> “SMRs are designed to be modular, factory-assembled and scalable. They are expected to be quicker to market, with a target construction time of three to five years compared with the ‘nameplate’ 10 years needed to build a large PWR,” Brown says.
> The key to at-scale adoption of SMRs will be how fast costs could fall and potentially make this type of nuclear energy generation cost-competitive with other forms of energy, especially renewables.