Consider the nuclear Navy. It's been operating nuclear power plants since the 60's. I remember an assembly in junior high school where a representative of the Navy argued that the nuclear power plants in submarines were the wave of the future. As they were small, lasted decades had zero pollution and one in the nuclear submarines of the day could power a city of 25,000. The problem is they the engineers try to make giant plants that provide power for hundreds of thousands of people far simpler to provide small contained nuclear units that are easily managed, safe and last for a very long time
While I am generally a proponent of large scale operations for their reduction of operating costs + increased potential for efficiency, I think there is something to be said for more, smaller nuclear power plants. This gives the potential for a more distributed network that's easier to manage in some ways and builds resilience into the grid.
Consider the nuclear Navy. It's been operating nuclear power plants since the 60's. I remember an assembly in junior high school where a representative of the Navy argued that the nuclear power plants in submarines were the wave of the future. As they were small, lasted decades had zero pollution and one in the nuclear submarines of the day could power a city of 25,000. The problem is they the engineers try to make giant plants that provide power for hundreds of thousands of people far simpler to provide small contained nuclear units that are easily managed, safe and last for a very long time
While I am generally a proponent of large scale operations for their reduction of operating costs + increased potential for efficiency, I think there is something to be said for more, smaller nuclear power plants. This gives the potential for a more distributed network that's easier to manage in some ways and builds resilience into the grid.
Some reading, if you're interested. https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx