Are Small Reactors the Next U.S. Nuclear Renaissance?

摘要

In a carbon-constrained world, nuclear energy is the only non-carbon-emitting base-load resource that reliably produces electricity. This fact, the Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee program for advanced innovative reactors, and improvements in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) commercial reactor licensing process1 were heralded as the start of the U.S. nuclear renaissance. Indeed, since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed, 26 applications for new reactors have been filed with the NRC.