FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
U.S. Department of Energy Study Considers Supporting Modular Reactors
Dec. 11, 2018 (EIRNS)—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has finally produced a study cautiously promoting the provision of subsidies (production tax credits or PTCs) for small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), in order to bring online this technology which is critical for economic development worldwide.
The October 2018 report, “Examination of Federal Financial Assistance in the Renewable Energy Market: Implications and Opportunities for Commercial Deployment of Small Modular Reactors,” constitutes a recommendation to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. The report, prepared under contract and financing by DOE by authors from Kutak Rock LLP and Scully Capital Services, is posted on the Department of Energy website.
Noting that between 2005 to 2015 some $51.2 billion was provided in production tax credits and direct development subsidies to wind and solar “renewables,” DOE’s study estimates that $10 billion in such subsidies over the next six years could get 6 GW of SMR capacity, or 15 SMR projects online, rated at about 400 MW each. These projects would consist in combinations of smaller modular reactor units.
The subsidies, it says, would be aimed to reduce the end-user cost/kwh: To achieve equivalent reductions the government investment in subsidies for SMR would be only about 0.34 cents, whereas the investment for solar/wind subsidies would be approximately 1.08 cents/kwh. The SMRs would require less subsidization because of their very long service life and their estimated 90%-plus online ratio (portion of the time the reactor is feeding power to the grid once commissioned).
