One of the big problems with nuclear power is that there is very little standardization. Aside from some basic similarities, each nuclear power reactor is unique. It was assumed at the beginning of the nuclear age that over time and the construction of many reactors, a few optimized standard designs would emerge. However, since the 70s building boom faded into history, the existing reactors just kept operating and serious standards never did emerge. Regulations also varied with time and place and were never well standardized. There is serious need for enforced international nuclear regulatory standards.
There is a current push by the nuclear industry to develop a new set of standardized reactors, regulations and safety systems. The idea is to be able to manufacture standard parts or whole reactors that can be shipped to any location and easily set up. There are four new Westinghouse reactors under construction in the U.S. that are based on the AP1000 design which is an example of the new approach to reactor design and construction.
Small modular reactors (SMR) are a new category of nuclear power reactor. Typically, they produce less than three hundred megawatts of power and may go as low as thirty megawatts. The intention is to settle of a standard design and then to build the reactors in a factory. The whole reactor could then be shipped by truck to a site and quickly installed. Although SMRs have been around since the 50s for use in ships, submarines and research laboratories, the current need for more low-carbon baseload power has increased interest in commercial versions of SMRs. A few standard designs of different power outputs would offer much more flexibility in situations where a big gigawatt plant would not be suitable.
There are a few companies working on different design approaches to SMRs:
Nuscale has chosen a variation on the light-water reactor concept that is used for many big nuclear power reactors.
IMSR is going with new versions of molten salt reactors which have a long a troubled history.
TerraPower's design is for an air-cooled liquid sodium design.
General Atomics is working on a reactor that can be fueled with spent fuel from other reactors.
In 2007, the World Nuclear Association established the Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) Working Group. This group is dedicated to creating international standardization by facilitating communication between the nuclear industry and the agencies that regulate nuclear power. One of the big problems that they are working on is the fact that currently there is no way to license a nuclear reactor design in different countries simultaneously. Coupled with the long and laborious process of obtaining as license in any country, the lack of an international licensing process is a serious impediment to the deployment of SMRs.
Major international agencies and individual countries are calling for more nuclear power as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. However, investors are concerned about nuclear powers ability to compete in the current energy marketplace. Although nuclear power plants bring in billions of dollars to local economies, they require billions of dollars and years to license and construct. The current push for SMRs is seen as a way of achieving economies of scale that can lower the cost of expanding nuclear power generation.
Artist's concept of a NuScale forty megawatt small modular reactor loaded on a truck for transport:
