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9 October 2026

Home / White Papers 2024

Infrastructure: Has Net Zero gone nuclear?

  • US utilities are breaking ground on Small Modular Reactors in the hunt for carbon-free energy.
  • The tech sector’s thirst for energy, driven by AI, is an accelerant for 24/7 clean power – renewable and nuclear.
  • SMRs are carbon-free, dispatchable and enjoy bipartisan support, but development success, standardisation and scale will be required for cost effectiveness.

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  •   14 November 2024
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3 Comments
Steve
November 15, 2024

SMRs don't just replace gas, they replace gas, solar and wind. If you have a SMR generator that provides 24/7 power why would you need solar and wind, why would you turn off a SMR generator to use solar or wind ?

Rick
November 18, 2024

SMRs excel in providing reliable, carbon-free baseload power, especially in regions where renewables struggle due to limited sunlight, wind and space (not Australia). They are particularly useful for replacing fossil fuels if a local industry requires consistent high energy levels (such as AI data bases) while solar and wind can be deployed in various scales making them ideal for remote or highly distributed energy needs e.g. Australia. Solar and wind could combine with SMRs providing electricity during peak demand periods (businesses mainly operate in the day, wind and storage is more consistent) reducing the need for a high reliance on SMR output. If you are over reliant on SRM’s you are also highly reliant on a consistently sourcing enriched uranium. In particular regions (e.g. Australia) solar and wind are a significantly cheaper source of electricity on a per-kilowatt-hour basis, even when considering storage systems to mitigate intermittency.

Dudley
November 18, 2024

"highly reliant on a consistently sourcing enriched uranium":

Natural uranium and deuterium oxide neutron moderator used in:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor

Modified CANDU Reactor SMR:
https://www.sciencepg.com/article/10.11648/j.ns.20240903.11

Can do Thorium too:
https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/33/011/33011302.pdf

 

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