And it is cost, along with the intense regulation around atomic energy, that is holding back SMRs.
UKSMR’s Samson thinks it will take a decade to get the first mini reactor operating, and puts the price tag at “£2bn-plus”. However, this depends on government support to drive through regulation and a commitment that another five SMRs will be ordered, which will each cost £1.8bn. That takes the bill to £10bn-plus – assuming no problems crop up.
“This is not a new type of fuel or reactor, this is based on existing technology and there are no insurmountable challenges,” Samson adds. “But we need a commitment to a new fleet of SMRs so we can get the supply chain involved.”
In a way, mini reactors face the same capital intensity hurdle that traditional nuclear power plants do.
Greatex agrees: “Almost all the cost is in the construction for a normal plant and it is relatively cheap afterwards. SMRs need government to backing to kick off – you wouldn’t build a factory to build just one car. But once it’s proven and costs go down you can see private financing coming in.”
Just as with traditional plants that need the state to effectively underwrite them to get private industry involved, SMRs need a similar guarantee for business to go ahead and spend billions on a technology that is as yet unproven.
Both UKSMR and NuScale also highlight the red tape around developing new nuclear technology as part of the reason mini reactors are not already powering our homes.
“Getting a first of a kind nuclear technology designed and approved is an incredibly time-consuming and costly business,” says Diane Hughes of NuScale. “Just the schedule for the regulatory review process alone is several years.”
Should ministers take the plunge and commit public money, SMRs are unlikely to be springing up at the bottom of your garden – though their size means they could, in theory.
“There’s a huge opportunity in old nuclear, coal and gas power plant sites which are being decommissioned,” says Samson. “We’re not planning to put them at the end of your street.”