Join us on October 21 at 3:30 p.m. for this Sustainable Energy Seminar presentation by Dr. Benjamin Lindley, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at UW-Madison

Abstract

Nuclear reactors are a low carbon energy source that can provide both firm electricity and high temperature process heat. However, large nuclear reactors have suffered extensive cost and schedule overruns in the West. Two emergent families of technologies are being developed to address these deployment challenges. Small modular reactors target factory manufacture as a means of reducing costs and enabling deployment at scale. Microreactors are smaller still, and initially target special applications including powering remote areas and space travel. However, there is also some excitement around the idea that such microreactors could eventually become cost effective enough to be community owned local sources of generation. This talk will introduce these technologies and discuss their prospects.