Does a new approach to nuclear make economic sense?

So far, these visualizations are as close as you can get to seeing a small, modular nuclear reactor.

DOE

Today, every nuclear power plant is unique, custom-built and run by site-specifically trained employees. This makes reactor construction expensive and, some argue, less safe because repairs require custom parts and one-off solutions. In recent years, nuclear energy advocates have been promoting an alternative—smaller, modular reactors that could be mass-produced. These cheaper, smaller, and standardized units could be a power solution for industries and municipalities that are looking to lower their carbon dioxide footprint.

But a paper by Ahmed Abdulla, Inês Lima Azevedo, and M. Granger Morgan finds that the small module reactor solution may not actually be cost effective yet.

The small modular designs have several advantages over traditional nuclear plants. Average construction time for a small module reactor should be about three years, compared to five for a traditional reactor. The new designs also have potential to be sited in places where a traditional nuclear reactor could not be located.