Sir, – On reading a recent letter (February 14th), one might be forgiven for thinking small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) were an established technology, ready for primetime in a carbon-free energy future. In fact, at this point in time not even one commercial SMR exists. Not even an experimental prototype, less still a debugged production-model with proven performance parameters. Given the record of novel nuclear technologies, a production model with a licensed manufacturing process may well be decades away.
And none of the enthusiasts for these things seem to have considered the economics or wisdom of scattering small nuclear reactors all over the place.
That is not to say nuclear hasn’t a vital role to play.
But the nuclear future lies with the established technology of big light-water reactors in mutli-unit sites adjacent to existing nuclear sites in countries like France, where the necessary regulatory, human-resource, and fuel-cycle infrastructure are already in place.
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It is only on this huge scale that nuclear really makes good sense and good economics.
Our energy future is already becoming clear.
It will be big multi-unit nuclear sites at the centre of an interconnected and integrated European grid, with a lot of wind and some solar, and some natural gas for grid management and for when the wind doesn’t blow. And hopefully, as soon as we have sufficient wind generation in place, natural gas will be replaced by hydrogen generated by surplus wind. – Yours, etc,
PETER MURRAY,
Carrigaline,
Co Cork.
