Manufacturer Rolls-Royce is leading a consortium to mass manufacture mini nuclear power plants. The stations will consist of small modular reactors (SMR) that are to be produced off-site, then delivered in portions on the back of a lorry to the facility’s location. This method will result in more predictable costs.
The company plans to install and manage the operation of these factory-built stations. It intends to have them all generating power and supplying electricity to the grid by 2029. They will be installed in former nuclear sites in Wales or Cumbria.
An estimated 10 to 15 of these mini stations will be built in the UK. Each one is roughly 1.5 acres in size resting on a 10-acre site – which is 1/16th the size of your typical major nuclear power station.
Theoretically, every town could have a personal SMR generating its electricity because they are so small. But, for now, Rolls-Royce is sticking to using existing sites. It avoids the dilemma of how to secure them against threats, such as a terrorist attack.
This idea does come with opposition. Opponents argue that the UK should focus on quitting nuclear power altogether. They believe the nation should fixate on renewable energy instead, mainly because it is cheaper and safer. The subject has divided environmentalists into two groups. One side says nuclear power is an expensive hazard, while the other hand says that all technologies are needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Meanwhile, the industry is convinced that mini reactors will be able to compete cost-wise with inexpensive renewables like offshore wind. Their confidence does come at a bit of a surprise. The nuclear industry has struggled lately with the cost of renewables plummeting.
The situation is so dire for the industry that major nuclear projects have even been abandoned in recent years. For example, the Japanese companies Hitachi and Toshiba pulled out of a project because they couldn’t get the necessary funding to make it happen. Then there’s the ridiculously expensive cost for the construction of Hinkley Point in Somerset, £3bn more than was expected, to turn people off.
However, Paul Stein, the chief technology officer at Rolls-Royce, says the solution is all about the size. He said:
The trick is to have prefabricated parts where we use advanced digital welding methods and robotic assembly and then parts are shipped to the site and bolted together. The approach would dramatically reduce the cost of building nuclear power sites, which would lead to cheaper electricity.
But Paul Dorfman from University College London doesn’t agree. He warned:
The potential cost benefits of assembly-line module construction relative to custom-build on-site construction may prove overstated. Production line mistakes may lead to generic defects that propagate throughout an entire fleet of reactors and are costly to fix. It’s far more economical to build one 1.2 GW unit than a dozen 100 MW units.
To overcome the cost barrier, Rolls-Royce is hoping to sell SMR’s abroad. Doing so will help the company achieve economies of scale.
