LC EPC Inquiry into Nuclear Prohibition Submission 22

Submission to the Victorian Parliament's Standing Committee on Environment and Planning

Inquiry into Nuclear Prohibition

Friends of the Earth Australia www.nuclear.foe.org.au

February 2020

SMALL MODULAR REACTORS

1. Introduction to this submission 1 2. Small modular reactors: an introduction and an obituary 2 ECONOMICS 3. SMR economics: an overview 11 4. SMR cost estimates, and costs of SMRs under construction 21 5. No-one wants to pay for SMRs: US and UK case studies 29 NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROLIFERATION & MILITARISM 6. Small modular reactors and nuclear weapons proliferation 34 7. A military bromance: SMRs to support and cross-subsidize the UK nuclear weapons program 42 8. SMRs to power military installations and forward bases in the United States 43 SAFETY, WASTE & OTHER ISSUES 9. SMR safety issues 46 10. Generation IV nuclear waste claims debunked 50 11. High-temperature, gas-cooled zombie SMRs 53

1. Introduction to this submission

Friends of the Earth Australia (FoEA) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to this inquiry and we would welcome the opportunity to appear before a public hearing of the Committee.

At a later date, FoEA and other NGOs will provide the Committee with a joint submission addressing other matters under consideration by this inquiry. This submission focuses exclusively on 'small modular reactors' (SMRs).

In addition to the information provided in this submission, we encourage the Committee and the Secretariat to read the following important report on SMRs, published in July 2019: Steve Thomas, Paul Dorfman, Sean Morris & M.V. Ramana, July 2019, 'Prospects for Small Modular Reactors in the UK & Worldwide', https://www.nuclearconsult.com/wp/wp- content/uploads/2019/07/Prospects-for-SMRs-report-2.pdf

1 of 56 LC EPC Inquiry into Nuclear Prohibition Submission 22 We also encourage the Committee and the Secretariat to read the following article on the failure of small reactor projects historically: M.V. Ramana, 27 April 2015, 'The Forgotten History of Small Nuclear Reactors', IEEE Spectrum, https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/heroic-failures/the-forgotten-history-of-small-nuclear-reactors

2. Small modular reactors: an introduction and an obituary

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are generally defined as those with a capacity under 300 megawatts (MW). They can be considered a sub-set of 'advanced' or Generation IV nuclear technology. But the terminology isn't helpful: most interest in SMRs involves scaled-down and redesigned versions of conventional light-water reactors, not Generation IV concepts. Many Generation IV concepts might also be described as failed Generation I technology … and that description fits SMRs as well.

'Modular' means that SMRs are to be assembled from parts or "modules" mass-produced in factories (and the term sometimes also refers to the concept of having multiple SMRs on the same site to better match electricity generation capacity with demand). This brings us to the next important point to be made about SMRs ‒ they don't have any meaningful existence. Some small reactors exist, and there are hopes and dreams of mass factory production of SMRs. But currently there is no such SMR mass manufacturing capacity.

Small reactors: past and present

There's nothing in the history of small power reactors that would inspire any confidence in the likelihood of a significant SMR industry developing now (for details see M.V. Ramana, 27 April 2015, 'The Forgotten History of Small Nuclear Reactors', https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/heroic- failures/the-forgotten-history-of-small-nuclear-reactors). The Soviet Union built eight reactors with a capacity of less than < 300 MW1 ‒ four have been permanently shut down and the remaining four will soon be shut down and replaced by a floating plant.2 The US Army built and operated eight small power reactors beginn