Small Modular Reactors in a Circular Economy

Abstract

As the world is striving for a sustainable future, awareness is growing that we need to shift from a linear to a circular economy. In a circular economy, waste is eliminated, and things are made to last longer and be easy to repair, reuse, repurpose and recycle.

A circular economy is enabled through design, which means that – in a nuclear context – reactors and other nuclear facilities that have yet to be built have much better prerequisites for achieving circularity than existing facilities. Even so, much can be done by owners and operators to better align an existing facility with circularity principles – regardless of the lifecycle stage that it is in.

In this paper, an overarching framework for what nuclear circularity entails is derived. While the framework is applicable to all types of nuclear installations, small modular reactors (SMRs) are highlighted. This due to the accelerating interest across the world for designing and constructing SMRs in the foreseeable future and the associated window of opportunity to ensure that those SMRs are developed for a circular economy. The benefits of nuclear circularity are also discussed, along with the challenges for achieving it. Examples are provided of current practices that are already consistent with circularity but typically not recognized as such.