<story><title>NRC Certifies First U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design</title><url>https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nrc-certifies-first-us-small-modular-reactor-design</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>prottog</author><text>To put in other units: a rise from previous targets of $58&amp;#x2F;MWh to $89&amp;#x2F;MWh, more than 50%, not including a $30&amp;#x2F;MWh subsidy (so the true cost is actually $119&amp;#x2F;MWh).&lt;p&gt;To be fair, it says the cost increases are mainly due to the rise in construction material prices as well as financing costs; nothing inherent to nuclear power or the novel technology itself.</text></item><item><author>pfdietz</author><text>NuScale recently announced large cost increases at the project with UAMPS.  The cost per unit of capacity is now on par with the new reactors at Vogtle (~$20&amp;#x2F;W).  This is outside the range at which the project could be competitive.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ieefa.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;eye-popping-new-cost-estimates-released-nuscale-small-modular-reactor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ieefa.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;eye-popping-new-cost-estimates-r...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>coder543</author><text>To provide more context, wind and solar were both in the low $30&amp;#x27;s&amp;#x2F;MWh of LCOE (levelized cost of energy) 3 years ago[0], with that number predicted to continue falling rapidly.&lt;p&gt;Combined cycle (natural gas) is a bit higher[1] than solar and wind, with that number expected to rise over time, and I&amp;#x27;m fairly sure the current numbers don&amp;#x27;t really reflect the substantial cost of the carbon emissions, which we will all have to pay for sooner or later. Either way, the number utilities see is currently much lower than SMRs.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure every prediction I&amp;#x27;ve ever seen for how quickly the cost of wind and solar will fall has underestimated the speed in retrospect.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s the kind of thing these reactors have to compete with.&lt;p&gt;Grids have also repeatedly been shown to handle more renewables than every previous prediction would make, and we haven&amp;#x27;t hit the limit. At this point, fossil fuel sources more frequently a source of blackouts than than renewables from everything I&amp;#x27;ve seen, despite certain people blaming renewables at every turn.&lt;p&gt;What we &lt;i&gt;need&lt;/i&gt; is more energy storage, whether that&amp;#x27;s in the form of traditional batteries or more novel forms of energy storage.&lt;p&gt;I think nuclear is a fine source of energy if you have it, but evidence over the last several decades shows that it is virtually impossible to build for myriad reasons. The Vogtle nuclear reactors have been one giant boondoggle. New nuclear is not cost competitive, unfortunately.&lt;p&gt;This was also an interesting article yesterday: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;cleantechnica.com&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;michael-bloomberg-backs-renewable-energy-in-new-op-ed&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;cleantechnica.com&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;michael-bloomberg-backs...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[0]: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eenews.net&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;doe-heres-where-renewable-costs-are-heading&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eenews.net&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;doe-heres-where-renewable-co...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1]: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eia.gov&amp;#x2F;todayinenergy&amp;#x2F;detail.php?id=46856&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eia.gov&amp;#x2F;todayinenergy&amp;#x2F;detail.php?id=46856&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>NRC Certifies First U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design</title><url>https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nrc-certifies-first-us-small-modular-reactor-design</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>prottog</author><text>To put in other units: a rise from previous targets of $58&amp;#x2F;MWh to $89&amp;#x2F;MWh, more than 50%, not including a $30&amp;#x2F;MWh subsidy (so the true cost is actually $119&amp;#x2F;MWh).&lt;p&gt;To be fair, it says the cost increases are mainly due to the rise in construction material prices as well as financing costs; nothing inherent to nuclear power or the novel technology itself.</text></item><item><author>pfdietz</author><text>NuScale recently announced large cost increases at the project with UAMPS.  The cost per unit of capacity is now on par with the new reactors at Vogtle (~$20&amp;#x2F;W).  This is outside the range at which the project could be competitive.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ieefa.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;eye-popping-new-cost-estimates-released-nuscale-small-modular-reactor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ieefa.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;eye-popping-new-cost-estimates-r...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>timerol</author><text>Producer price index on steel pipe and structural steel are bonkers: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;PCU3312103312100&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;PCU3312103312100&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;PCU33231233231211&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;PCU33231233231211&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>