One of the main concerns for investors is unexpected delays during construction of a NPP and the related cost escalation. Faced by the above-mentioned risks, several investors stand ‘frozen’ and wait and see the market evolution, the strategies of their competitors or wait for a more mature phase of a specific reactor plant concept to exploit cost reduction and learning accumulation.

As argued by IAEA (Barkatullah, 2011), reduced plant size and complexity and design simplifications, enabled by the SMRs, should allow:

• better control on shorter construction lead-time — leaner project management (e. g. higher factory-fabrication content, modularization of reactors);

• lower supply chain risks — increased number of suppliers and reduced need of special and ad hoc manufacturing and installations;

• better control on construction costs — if plant complexity of gigawatt electric (GWe)-scale nuclear plants has been a driver of cost escalation (Grubler, 2010), SMRs should enable economies from standardization and accelerated learning. The ability to meet cost projection should also improve.