Decarbonizing with Nuclear Power, Current Builds, and Future Trends

Nuclear energy powers 10% of the world's electricity and is responsible for about 30% of all low-carbon electricity generation including wind, solar, and hydropower. With around 440 nuclear power reactors operating in the world today, nuclear energy is a mature and scalable technology, which has a lifecycle carbon footprint comparable with wind and solar. It is also a baseload, zero-emission source of energy generation and thus is central to many countries' energy transition plans. Early power reactor builds were concentrated in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan. Today, Russia and China are leaders in nuclear power plant builds and are responsible for half of all current constructions. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France also have large nuclear build projects. However, they have been experiencing delays because of supply chain challenges and an inability to bridge industry peaks and troughs. In response to this challenge, many countries are innovating by developing small modular reactors (SMRs), which are classified as any reactor outputting 300 megawatts (MW) or less. These reactors are designed to be factory fabricated to increase build quality, reduce build times (from, say, 6–10 years to 3–5 years), and to reduce both capital cost and finance costs compared with large 1000-MW reactors, which are under construction today. Some designs ready for near-term deployment, such as the NuScale reactor, have modules that produce 77 MW. The NuScale modules are designed to be installed in 12 packs, in a common pool to ensure the reactors can be kept cool under all circumstances. The first-of-a-kind (FOAK) plant of 12 modules (924-MW output) is scheduled to start construction next year and be completed by 2029. Other SMR designs include the BWRX-300 (from the United States), SMART (Republic of Korea), and CANDU-SMR (Canada). Some designs, such as the KLT-40S (Russia), are already in operation, while others, such as the ACP-100 (China) and CAREM (Argentina), are under construction. Very small nuclear plants, called microreactors, outputting 20 MW or less are also under development. Some microreactor designs can operate at high temperatures and can be air-cooled, making them ideal for remote deployment near townships or mining sites, which currently use very expensive diesel-electric generation. Billions of dollars are being invested in SMR research and development around the world, investments that could contribute to sustainable, low-carbon electricity generation in the future global energy mix.