{"id":1327,"date":"2026-06-29T11:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T11:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/?p=1327"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:34:04","slug":"small-modular-reactors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/small-modular-reactors\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Modular Reactors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Small Modular Reactors<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

About<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  • Small modular reactors (SMRs) are small nuclear reactors <\/strong>with a maximum output of 300 Megawatt electric (MWe), <\/strong>which is about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • They are:\u00a0\n
      \n
    • Small<\/strong> \u2013 physically a fraction of the size of a conventional nuclear power reactor.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Modular<\/strong> \u2013 making it possible for systems and components to be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Reactors<\/strong> \u2013 harnessing nuclear fission to generate heat to produce energy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • They all use nuclear fission reactions<\/strong> to generate heat that can be used directly or for generating electricity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Advantages of SMRs<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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      • SMRs are designed with a smaller core damage frequency<\/strong> (the likelihood that an accident will damage the nuclear fuel) and source term <\/strong>(a measure of radioactive contamination) compared to conventional Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs).\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • SMR designs are also simpler than those of conventional NPPs and include several passive safety features<\/strong>, resulting in a lower potential for the uncontrolled release of radioactive materials<\/strong> into the environment.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • As they are smaller in size, power output and capacity<\/strong>, they need less space and less cooling water<\/strong>, offering greater flexibility for site selection<\/strong> than large nuclear plants.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Most land-based SMR designs require low-enriched uranium, <\/strong>which can be supplied by all countries that possess uranium mines.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • They are modular and can be produced in series<\/strong>, which allows for production cost efficiency through economies of scale.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Global Status<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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        • Globally, there are more than 80 SMR designs at different stages of development across 18 countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • While countries such as the U.S., UK, Canada, Japan, and South Korea are actively developing their own designs, Russia and China<\/strong> connected their first SMRs to the grid in 2019 and 2021, respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Status in India<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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          • In the Union Budget 2025-2026, the Government announced that a Nuclear Energy Mission for research & development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR)<\/strong> will be set up and at least 5 indigenously developed SMRs<\/strong> will be operationalized by 2033.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Small Modular Reactors About Advantages of SMRs Global Status Status in India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1329,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions\/1329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}