Participants of Survey on Prospects for Implementing Small Modular Reactors in Ukraine
Participants of Survey on Prospects for Implementing Small Modular Reactors in Ukraine
The development and construction of small modular reactors (SMRs) is a promising area of development for many countries, and discussions about their advantages and drawbacks have been ongoing for several years. Ukraine also plans implementing small modular reactors on its territory.
In July 2023, the editors of the Uatom.org website launched an online survey on the prospects for implementing small modular reactors in order to find out the level of public awareness about the development of the latest technology and attitudes towards it.
The survey consisted of questions about the functions and characteristics of small modular reactors, their developers and the prospects for their construction. Participants also had to express their attitude towards this technology. The questions posed were important for writing further news and articles about SMRs, debunking myths and stereotypes.
According to the survey results, 51.5% of respondents know what a small modular reactor is, 48.5% are hearing about this technology for the first time.
The next question was choosing the correct statement about SMR technology. The question was aimed at clarifying myths and stereotypes that lead to distortion of facts about the latest technology, and identifying the necessary aspects for further coverage of SMR topics in the information space.
For example, 33.3% of people believe that a small modular reactor is a smaller copy of a high-power nuclear reactor. In addition, 9.1% of people think that the first low-power reactors were used in households, and 12.1% of people believe that an observation zone is needed around a nuclear power plant on the base of small modular reactors, just like for the nuclear power plants with high-power reactors. Although in fact, the first SMRs were developed for military purposes and observation zones around SMRs might be absent at all or might be of a smaller scale.
The next question was to identify SMR developers among the proposed options (Energoatom, NuScale, Xiomi, Hitachi-GE, Samsung, Holtec, Rolls-Royce, DTEK, Westinghouse Electric Company, Suzuki). The results obtained show, which technologies are more popular and whether survey respondents differentiate between those who develop and those who operate installations with such technologies. For example, 16% and 2% of respondents chose Energoatom and DTEK among the options of the development companies, respectively, but these organizations do not develop small modular reactors, they are likely to operate them in the future. People mostly know about Westinghouse (20%) and NuScale (19%) SMRs.
One of the questions in the survey was to check knowledge about the functions of small modular reactors, namely, the needs for which they can be implemented. This question is important in view of the fact, whether people associate the implementation of SMRs with uranium enrichment and production of nuclear weapons. After all, it is important to emphasize that small modular reactors will not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The last two questions concerned the development of small modular reactors and the prospects for their implementation in Ukraine. All survey participants support the development of SMRs, because they believe that nuclear energy is safe and promising with proper operation.
“I believe that nuclear power has a carbon-free future because it produces electricity (and thermal energy in general) more stable and consistently, and in smaller areas, than other carbon-free sources (including renewable ones). In my opinion, the peculiarity of small modular reactors in this role is the ability to replace the existing thermal stations operating on fossil hydrocarbon fuels. Since the capacity of power units and hydrocarbon stations approximately coincides with the capacity of SMRs”.
According to respondents, the implementation of SMRs is the most promising and correct way to develop Ukraine’s energy sector, but only taking into account the study of risks and the possibility of avoiding them. However, participants also note that there is currently not enough information on small modular reactors.
Survey participants consider the construction of small modular reactors in Ukraine to be promising because:
- part of the thermal power plants was destroyed by russian missiles, shunting types of generation should be developed;
- the destroyed capacities of the thermal power plants should be restored and new capacities should be installed in accordance with the future needs of the Ukrainian industry;
- after damage of the energy infrastructure by russians, the SMRs will allow supplying electricity to prevent blackouts on the newly liberated territories, as well as in the regions with power shortage;
- old power units will have to be decommissioned over time;
- SMRs will contribute to decentralization of energy production: it is easier to balance the energy system when introducing both external and internal fluctuations, and it is also easier to regulate daily load fluctuations;
- SMRs are a simpler technology compared to the million-capacity reactors; their construction and subsequent confinement is easier;
- it is economically profitable and it is a good competition for high-power reactors;
- SMR is an alternative source of energy production.
“Because it is a) an extensive safe power supply system; b) no need for hundreds/thousands of kilometers of wires and towers and their maintenance; c) use of SMR as a tool for obtaining and accumulating hydrogen, distilled water and creating drinking water lakes in the cities with clean ecology in them; d) use of SMR at night to split CO2 into carbon and oxygen – oxygen into the atmosphere, carbon into diamonds/graphene; e) construction of machines with nuclear reactor for autonomous/robotic operation at ChNPP to decontaminate soil and bring the territories to life and construct new nuclear power plants on them”.
“The construction of small modular reactors in Ukraine has great prospects. They can be constructed on the sites of old thermal power plants, all the maintenance is already there: distribution networks, cooling systems, etc. We have our own ore; ideally, we need to construct a fuel processing and enrichment plant, taking into account the possibility of spent fuel recycling. SMRs will also contribute to production of cheaper electricity, creation of new jobs in other sectors of economy, and supply of electricity to Europe instead of russian gas”.