The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has published a 60-page supplement to “The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard”, which it published in March. The Dashboard tracks the progress of selected small modular reactor (SMR) designs towards deployment.
NEA says it looks beyond technical feasibility and defines new criteria for assessing real progress in six additional dimensions of readiness: licensing, siting, financing, supply chain, engagement, and fuel. The first volume assessed the progress of 21 SMRs and the second volume tracks the progress of an additional 21 SMRs.
NEA says it used information from verifiable public sources mostly from third party references (governments, regulators, financiers, operators). None of the sources are from the SMR designers, except for some relating to fuel type, enrichment, reactor specifics and public announcements of financing. Prior to publication, the SMR designers were consulted by the NEA and “were given the opportunity to comment on the draft assessments and supplement further information which could be independently verified”.
Future volumes of Dashboard “will aim to help public and private sector decision-makers understand the pace of progress to commercial deployment”. However, neither the original document nor its supplement contains projected completion dates, which are a key measure for assessing progress. Moreover, the selection of SMRs chosen seems somewhat random as the two volumes together cover only 42 reactors in 13 countries. By comparison, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) most recent edition of its biennial IAEA booklet, Advances in Small Modular Reactor Technology Developments, published in 2022 covers 83 designs under development or construction in 18 countries.
The reactors assessed in the NEA supplement include:
- BANR SMR (BWX Technologies, USA), a 50 MWt gas-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO prismatic;
- Project Pele (BWX Technologies USA), a gas-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO;
- Energy Well (CVR1, Czech Republic), a 20 MWt molten salt-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO prismatic;
- DF300 (Dual Fluid Energy, Canada) a liquid metal cooled fast reactor fuelled by liquid U-Cr alloy;
- SMR-160 (Holtec International, USA), a 525 MWt thermal reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets;
- GTHTR300 (JAEA, Japan), a 600 MWt high temperature thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO prismatic;
- HTTR (JAEA, Japan) a 30 MWt gas-cooled high temperature thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO prismatic
- Jimmy (Jimmy Energy, France) 10 MWt gas-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by UCO TRISO prismatic;
- SMART (KAERI, South Korea), a 365 MWt water-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets;
- PWR-20 (Last Energy, USA) a 60 MWt water-cooled thermal reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets;
- LFR AS 200 (newcleo, UK) a 480 MWt lead-cooled fast reactor fuelled by mox;
- BREST-OD-300 (NIKIET, Russia), a 700 MWt lead-cooled fast reactor fuelled by MNUP;
- Kaleidos (Radiant, USA) 1.9 MWt gas-cooled high temperature thermal reactor fuelled by TRISO prismatic;
- RITM-200M (Rosatom, Russia) 198 MWt water cooled thermal reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets;
- CMSR (Seaborg Technologies, Denmark) a 250 MWt molten salt thermal reactor fuelled by molten salt;
- HAPPY200 (SPIC, China) a 200 MWt thermal reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets;
- IMSR (Terrestrial Energy, Canada), a 884 MWt molten salt thermal reactor fuelled by molten salt;
- TMSR-500 (ThorCon International, UAE) a 557 MWe molten salt thermal reactor fuelled by molten salt;
- 4S (Toshiba, Japan) a 30-135 MWt sodium-cooled fast reactor fuelled by metallic U-Zr alloy;
- Westinghouse LFR (Westinghouse, USA) a 950 MWt lead-cooled fast reactor fuelled by UO2 pellets or mox and then nitride pellets;
- TEPLATOR (ZCU and CIIRC CTU6, Czech Republic) a 170 MWt thermal reactor fuelled by used fuel or natural uranium.
