Can Small Modular Reactors Save Nuclear Power?

Given the slow and somewhat painful shutdowns of perfectly good operating nuclear plants due to competitive pressures from low priced natural gas and subsidized solar and wind generation, is there a future for new nuclear power plants? The recent experience of cost overruns and schedule delays associated with the 4 large (1200 Mwe) nuclear plants being built now in Georgia and South Carolina is not reassuring. Actually, the two in South Carolina have been essentially canceled by the owners due to these cost overruns and lack of electricity demand. While natural gas is cleaner than coal from an emissions standpoint,… [more]