Ux Consulting Issues Groundbreaking Study on Small Modular Reactor Assessments

ROSWELL, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ux Consulting Company, LLC (UxC), a leading provider of global market and consulting services in the nuclear industry, announces the release of a groundbreaking, in-depth report on Small Modular Reactor Assessments (SMRA).

Over the past year, UxC’s team of reactor market analysts worked with international reactor technology and design consultants on this comprehensive study on small modular reactors or “SMRs.” Although few actual projects for SMR deployment exist today, many reactor designs in the 35-300 MWe range are being proposed by established and start-up nuclear companies.

This study provides technical, economic, regulatory, and other assessments of each leading SMR design being developed in the world. In addition, the report provides an in-depth discussion of broader issues impacting SMRs, such as keys to successful deployment, comparisons with larger reactor technologies, specific applications for SMRs, and broader issues facing potential customers for SMRs. Based on our extensive research, UxC’s report is meant as an independent, unbiased assessment of all the likely SMR technologies as well as to provide unique perspectives on the overall small reactor sector.

At over 500 pages, this report includes detailed commercial and technical analyses of these 12 leading SMRs:

• Westinghouse IRIS
• B&W mPower
• NuScale
• KAERI SMART
• OKBM KLT-40S & VBER-300
• South Africa PBMR
• China HTR-PM
• GA GT-MHR
• Toshiba 4S
• Hyperion
• GEH PRISM

Some of the main findings of UxC’s SMRA report include:

1) Up to 7 of the leading designs could see at least one plant built by 2020

2) SMRs are likely to be deployed in Russia, China, South Korea, United States, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere

3) Integral PWR designs have the highest likelihood for near-term deployment, but various HTR and LMR concepts are also experiencing positive advances

4) SMR economics can be competitive with larger LWR/HWR designs, if technical and supply chain issues are properly addressed

5) SMRs offer broad appeal for a great number of potential customers, especially due to their multiple applications from generation of both electricity and process heat

UxC’s SMRA report aims to fill a clear information gap in the developing SMR marketplace and is believed to be the first ever global comparative analysis of the competing SMR designs. This report is available for immediate purchase (download table of contents).