Company Calls New Small Nuclear Reactor a 'Game Changer'

A major manufacturer of power-generation equipment announced plans today to build a small nuclear reactor that company officials touted as a “potential game changer for the global nuclear market.”

Babcock & Wilcox Co.’s 125-megawatt reactor would be significantly smaller than the average 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor and is aimed at plugging a major “market gap,” CEO Brandon Bethards said at a Washington press conference. The new reactor might come online as early as 2018.

What the company calls its “mPower” reactor would be used for smaller grids or limited electricity-demand areas, such as those of municipal districts or for individual industrial use. Demand has been rising for such reactors in developing countries whose transmission systems cannot handle large reactors. Other nuclear companies have explored scalable or “grid appropriate” reactors before but could not overcome issues of cost.

“Several technical and manufacturing innovations make this reactor a potential game changer for the global clean energy market,” said Christofer Mowry, president and CEO at Babcock & Wilcox Modular Nuclear Energy LLC, the new unit in charge of the small reactor.

NY Times