1 of 2 | Nuclear energy company Westinghouse announced plans Thursday to develop its first small-scale modular nuclear reactor with a power capacity of 300 megawatts. Image courtesy of Westinghouse
May 4 (UPI) -- Nuclear power company Westinghouse announced plans Thursday to develop a small-scale modular reactor that could be in the construction phase by the end of the decade.
Small modular reactors (SMR) are low-footprint alternatives to larger power plants, many of which -- like the Palisades nuclear reactor in Michigan -- are retiring. Westinghouse Electric Company says it has the answer to that with the development of a 300 megawatts reactor design, dubbed AP300 SMR, that can fit inside a conventional sports stadium.
Palisades, by contrast, had a design capacity of roughly 800 MW and the facility still sits on more than 400 acres of land on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Patrick Fragman, the president and CEO of Westinghouse, said the 300 MW design "rounds out the Westinghouse portfolio of reactor technology, allowing us to deliver on the full needs of our customers globally, with a clear line of sight on schedule of delivery, and economics."
Nuclear power had faded from the energy landscape following the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan in 2011, though that same year, a report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago found the future of the U.S. nuclear power sector may rest in SMRs rather than facilities like Palisades.
More recently, provincial leaders in Alberta, Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding with a South Korean developer to study SMRs.
Nuclear power, however, is at a standstill in the U.S. economy. Nuclear energy accounted for 19% of the energy mix in 2022 and that's expected to increase to only 20% in 2024.
Westinghouse expects design certification for its SMR by 2027, with construction on the first unit expected near the end of the decade. The company expects the AP300 to have a life span of more than 80 years.
