The present NEA study is a synthesis report on the development status and deployment potential of SMRs. It brings together the information provided in a variety of recent publications in this field, and presents the characterisation of SMRs already available for deployment and those that are expected to become available in the next 10-15 years.

Particular attention is paid to the economics of such reactors, and the various factors affecting their competitiveness are analysed and discussed. Vendors’ data on the economics of different designs is compared with the independent quantitative estimates of the electricity generating costs, and the deployment potential of SMRs in a number of markets and geographic locations is assessed.

The study also highlights the safety features and licensing issues regarding such reactors, although the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident might have a significant impact on the design and licensing of SMRs.

For this study, a SMR definition supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was used, according to which “small reactors are reactors with the equivalent[77] electric power less than 300 MW, medium-sized reactors are reactors with the equivalent electric power between 300 and 700 MW". However, the main focus is on small reactors.

9.3 Summary

SMR characterisation (general)

Regarding the SMR characterisation, the conclusions are as follows:

• On a fundamental level, nuclear power plants with SMRs are not different from those with large reactors. The reasons to consider SMRs separately are:

— higher degree of innovation implemented in their designs; and

— specific conditions and requirements of the target markets, which are often substantially different from those of the nuclear power plants (NPPs) with conventional large reactors.

• Recent publications on SMRs point to the following two general classes of SMR applications:

— Niche applications in remote or isolated areas where large generating capacities are not needed, the electrical grids are poorly developed or inexistent, and where the non­electrical products (such as heat or desalinated water) are as a bare necessity as the electricity is.

— Traditional deployment and direct competition with NPPs with large reactors. In this, it is noted that the upfront capital investment for one unit of a SMR is significantly smaller than for a large reactor. Thus there is flexibility in incremental capacity increase, resulting in smaller financial risks and making such reactors potentially attractive to investors.