Right, but they don’t exist commercially and are 10 years away by best estimate (I think I haven’t looked lately). Also, Navy style reactors are not anything like SMR designs currently under development. They are much closer to current PWR reactors in use. I love the idea of more nuclear, hell that’s what I do for a living. I just feel like SMRs are more vapor ware that’s always “10 years away”. I hope not, I know some really smart people who are currently working at Terrapower trying to make it a reality.
All of the three candidates that I’m aware that are currently trying to get department of energy clearance for commercialization are pressurized water reactors…
And what is the timeline for commercial deployments? And what is the timeline for commercial deployments at a scale that might make a significant contribution to overall energy generation? And how realistic are those timelines after decades of delays?
The first module is expected to be operational by 2029 with full plant operation the following year.
Uh huh. Let’s see how that goes. And even if they do succeed with that. It’ll still be decades until these things can make a significant contribution. Which was my point all along.
Right, but they don’t exist commercially and are 10 years away by best estimate (I think I haven’t looked lately). Also, Navy style reactors are not anything like SMR designs currently under development. They are much closer to current PWR reactors in use. I love the idea of more nuclear, hell that’s what I do for a living. I just feel like SMRs are more vapor ware that’s always “10 years away”. I hope not, I know some really smart people who are currently working at Terrapower trying to make it a reality.
All of the three candidates that I’m aware that are currently trying to get department of energy clearance for commercialization are pressurized water reactors…
And what is the timeline for commercial deployments? And what is the timeline for commercial deployments at a scale that might make a significant contribution to overall energy generation? And how realistic are those timelines after decades of delays?
https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nrc-certifies-first-us-small-modular-reactor-design#:~:text=The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,use in the United States. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_naval_reactors
Uh huh. Let’s see how that goes. And even if they do succeed with that. It’ll still be decades until these things can make a significant contribution. Which was my point all along.