核工业正在对小型发电厂一大赌注

到现在为止，产生核电要求的建筑物，电力基础设施，道路，停车场和更多的包围亩大规模的设施。核工业正在努力改变这种图片 - 先小。

Efforts to build the nation’s first "advanced small modular reactor" (SMR)爱达荷州的轨道上为它在2020年代中期开始运作。该项目采取了关键性的一步，当公司背后，NuScale，安全的重要的安全认证从核管理委员会。

但第一批可发电到2020年，在中国，阿根廷和俄罗斯据国际原子能机构。

的争论仍然在继续这项技术是否值得追求，但核工业isn’t waiting for a verdict. Nor, as an能源学者, do I think it should. This new generation of smaller and more technologically advanced reactors offer many advantages, including an assembly-line approach to production, vastly reduced meltdown risks and greater flexibility in terms of where they can be located.

多小才算小？

大多数小型模块化反应堆现在的作品50兆瓦之间的范围 - 60,000大致足够的动力modern U.S. homes— and 200 megawatts. There are designs for even smaller "mini" or "micro-reactors" that generateas few as 4 megawatts。

In contrast, full-sized nuclear reactors built today will generate about 1,000-1,600 megawatts of electricity, although many built before 1990, including over half the99个反应器在美国操作, are smaller than this.

今天建成后将产生大约1,000-1,600兆瓦的电力全尺寸核反应堆，虽然很多在1990年之前建成比这更小。

但小型核反应堆实际上并不是新的。印度拥有最多，有18用容量测距兆瓦90和220之间的反应器, built between 1981 and 2011.

The U.S., Russia, China, India, France and the U.K. operate数百核潜艇and aircraft carriers. Russia has dozens of nuclear-powered icebreakers cruising around the Arctic, and its first浮动核电站will be deployed in 2019 near the town of Pevek in East Siberia.

The Siberian plant will replace4个12兆瓦的反应堆建于上世纪70年代苏联电源的一个偏远小镇和行政中心，以及采矿和石油钻井作业。

即使反应堆很小,他们可能operate at much bigger power plants with multiple reactors. NuScale, for example, wants to install 12 reactors at its initial Idaho site. Based on the company’s latest projections, it will have a的720兆瓦总容量。

全球趋势

私人和国有公司正在寻求建立这些小电厂约十几个国家到目前为止，包括美国和英国。

France, which gets three-quarters of its electricity fromnuclear energy和加拿大可能很快加入战团。

This global interest in small modular reactors comes as更标准的核反应堆正在退役比正在建设中。

Some advantages

这些先进的小型模块化反应堆的支持者说，他们将更容易建立和在那里他们可以定位方面更灵活量比较大的一种。单词“模块化”是指它们将如何在建工厂般的环境，准备牵引要么完全组装或通过卡车，铁路或海运方便地连接部分。

These reactors potentially can power rural towns, industrial plants, mountainous areas and military bases, as well as urban districts and ports. Small modular reactors also may prove handy for industrial uses.

Small modular reactors will differ from the smaller reactors already deployed because of their new technologies. These advances are intended to make it less likely or evenimpossible for them to melt down or explode，期间如发生Japan’s Fukushima disaster。

The power plants where these small reactors will be located will have added protections against sabotage and the theft of radioactive material. For example, they may be equipped with冷却系统是继续工作even if no operators are present and all electric power is lost. In many cases, the entire reactor and steam-generating equipment will be below ground to safeguard these facilities during natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunamis that led three Fukushima Daiichi reactors to melt down.

在许多情况下，整个反应器和蒸汽发电设备将成为地面以下的自然灾害期间，以保障这些设施。

Like renewable energy, nuclear power emits no carbon. And compared to wind and solar power, which are intermittent sources, or hydropower, which is affected by seasonal changes and droughts, it operates all the time and has a much smaller footprint.

As a result, small modular reactors could be与可再生能源配对作为燃煤或天然气电厂的替代品。然而，他们可能会与先进的竞争energy storage systems该市场。

关注和成本

无论这些优点兑现，显然，仍然一旦这些反应堆被部署到待观察。Some experts are skeptical行业的承诺和期望。

Although small modular reactors are designed to produce少放射性废物比标准，对于相同量的功率更大的电抗器，哪里的问题安全处置核废料仍然没有得到解决。

小型模块化反应堆面临其他挑战，一些他们自己造成的。

在潜在的全球市场的强烈兴趣，导致许多公司提出了自己的个人反应堆设计。在我看来，已经有太多的版本在那里。不久，将出现一个洗牌。

在潜在的全球市场的强烈兴趣，导致许多公司提出了自己的个人反应堆设计。

而且，特别是在美国，目前需要新的许可反应堆设计缺乏任何商业记录没有任何关于时间长度的清晰度 - 创造了很多regulatory uncertainty。

It’s also unclear what small modular reactor-generated power will cost. That probably will remain the case for at least the next 10 to 15 years, until a few designs are actually built and operating.

一些专家预见小型模块化反应堆的水平，可能是用铅笔出来比全尺寸的反应堆更高一般花费更多的构建（PDF）and操作比其他选项，如天然气，对于相同量的功率。NuScale，不过，预计其中小型反应堆将是more competitive比that in terms of their cost.

一些观察家担心，反应堆主可能偷工减料（PDF）为了降低成本，危及安全或安全性。

虽然它们的成本目前还不清楚他们的优势相对于其他能源选择保持未经证实的，我相信这些小型反应堆，非碳源，需要帮助解决我们这个时代的能源挑战。与世界其他国家似乎准备给他们带或不带美国一试