The world’s first small modular reactor (SMR) is under construction and, surprise, surprise, it’s energy-hungry China that leads the way.
While China’s love affair with coal-fired power looks like a marriage that will last a lifetime, the CCP is also building nuclear plants, hand over first. And not just the 1,000MW plus industrial-scale reactors it needs to drive its economic miracle.
China looks set to develop the technology to build SMRs at a scale that promises to shake up power generation and delivery, for generations to come.
The World’s First Small Nuclear Reactor Is Now Under Construction
Oil Price
Charles
Kennedy
13 July 2021
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) launched on Tuesday the construction of the first onshore small nuclear reactor in the world, in its efforts to gain a leading position in the modular reactors market.
Construction began on the demonstration project at the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in the Hainan province in southern China, local publication Global Times reports.
The start of the construction for the ‘Linglong One’ small nuclear reactor comes four years later than initially planned, due to delays in regulatory clearances, Reuters notes.
The small reactor was originally planned to see the start of the construction phase in 2017.
A year earlier, the Linglong One small reactor had become the first to pass a safety review from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Once completed and commissioned, the small nuclear reactor is expected to meet the annual power needs of around 526,000 households, Global Times reports, without giving a timeline for the completion.
CNNC has been developing small reactor technology for the past ten years, the outlet says.
According to the World Nuclear Association, interest is growing in small and simpler technology to generate nuclear power, due to lower costs and the desire to provide power away from large grid systems.
“Overall SMR research and development in China is very active, with vigorous competition among companies encouraging innovation,” the association says, noting that the U.S., the UK, and Canada also develop and support their respective domestic small reactor technology.
In the United States, Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are a key part of the Department of Energy’s goal to develop safe, clean, and affordable nuclear power options, DOE says. The Department has provided support to the development of light water-cooled SMRs, which are under licensing review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and will likely be deployed in the late 2020s to early 2030s.
Oil Price
STOP THESE THINGS 
Not related, but oil production is being obliterated too. The gulf states are using carbon capture to produce oil which is a EROI disaster.
Yes – China certainly is a “developing nation” (as the United Nations would have it.)
Developing everything that they and others need but others are afraid to have a crack at.
Yes. China knows the way forward on energy. Meanwhile we sit on our backsides frightened of the Greenies bouncing up and down.
now if we could run a plant on Greenies bouncing up and down.
Looking forward to SMR’s filling the void for continuous uninterruptible electricity that is generated emissions free to fill the void as breezes and sunshine only generate intermittent electricity.
Only healthy and wealthy countries like the USA, Germany, Australia, and the UK can subsidize electricity from breezes and sunshine, and intermittent electricity at best. The 80 percent of the 8 billion on earth living on less than 10 dollars a day cannot subsidize themselves out of a paper bag. Those poorer countries must rely on affordable and abundant coal for reliable electricity, while residents in the healthy and wealthier countries pay dearly for those subsidies with some of the highest cost for electricity in the world.