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chadridesabike · 3857 days ago · link · · parent · post: Small reactors may be nuclear power's future
The argument for the cost being cheaper really relies on demand, which isn't there. The manufacturing model of "mass production" does lower costs, but if we build say 5 of these, I don't think the cost savings will be there.
That's true. Nuclear's biggest obstacle is probably its stigma. On the long-term, it's really one of the cleanest and highest-output energy sources we have, but concerns over catastrophic failure are a major turnoff. Small reactors could go a long way to eliminate the possibility of catastrophic failure by operating with an amount of nuclear material that isn't very large. Still, you would need more of these and each one has its own chance of failure, so these designs need to be rock-solid to become a real solution.