Stephen Singer of UtilityDive writes about a new report that has found that reusing coal plants can cut small modular nuclear reactor development costs by 35%.
- The report, which was authored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, found that 80% of coal plants surveyed had the basic characteristics that are needed to power small modular reactors.
- 77% of coal power plant jobs are also transferable to nuclear power, according to the report, which is important to rural communities that will be impacted by coal plant closures.
- Placing advanced nuclear plants on old coal facilities would reduce construction costs and some permitting delays, leading to an overall development cost reduction of 17% to 35%.
“Other benefits highlighted by the report are SMRs’ flexible power output levels that allow developersto match the output of a retiring coal plant and capacity restrictions of equipment, unlike the fixed capacity of traditional nuclear plants. And SMRs require small areas, making its footprint suitable for replacing a retiring coal plant, according to the report.”
Read the full article here.
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