Export possibilities for small nuclear reactors

The worldwide deployment of peaceful nuclear technology is predicated on conformance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1972. Under this international treaty, countries have traded away pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for access to commercial nuclear technology that could help them grow economically. Realistically, however, most nuclear technology has been beyond the capacity of the NPT developing countries to afford. Even if the capital cost of the plant is managed, the costs of the infrastructure and the operational complexity of most nuclear technology have taken it out of the hands of the nations who need it the most. Now, a new class of small sodium cooled reactors has been specifically designed to meet the electrical power, water, hydrogen and heat needs of small and remote users. These reactors feature small size, long refueling interval, no onsite fuel storage, and simplified operations. Sized in the 10 MW(e) to 50 MW(e) range these reactors are modularized for factory production and for rapid site assembly. The fuel would be <20% U-235 uranium fuel with a 30-year core life. This new reactor type more appropriately fills the needs of countries for lower power distributed systems that can fill the gap between large developed infrastructure and primitive distributed energy systems. Looking at UN Resolution 1540 and the impact of other agreements, there is a need to address the issues of nuclear security, fuel, waste, and economic/legal/political-stakeholder concerns. This paper describes the design features of this new reactor type that specifically address these issues in a manner that increases the availability of commercial nuclear technology to the developing nations of the world. (authors)