Tiny Nuclear Reactors Can Save American Energy
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Courtesy NuScale Power, LLC
Tiny Nuclear Reactors Can Save American Energy
They pack 10 percent of the power of a full-size nuclear plant in just 1 percent of the space.
Jan 3, 2021
Often touted as a more flexible, powerful alternative to renewables, nuclear’s advantages haven’t outrun its dogged volatility. We associate nuclear reactors more often with disaster than innovation, but as the United States takes more coal and gas plants offline, engineers are hoping fresh reactor concepts could redeem nuclear’s stature in American energy. Bigger is no longer better. The future, experts say, looks like “multispeed” nuclear energy—a combination of traditional large plants and smaller, safer megawatt reactors.