Small Nuclear Reactors Going Corporate

Babcock & Wilcox, a large energy management company, is getting into the market for small nuclear reactors.

The idea with small nuclear is to tailor the nuclear reactors found on submarines for land use. Hyperion Power Generation, a spin-out of Los Alamos National Labs, and TerraPower, which comes out of Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures, are pursuing the same idea. (A more detailed story on TerraPower can be read here.) These companies don't want to put reactors in new subdivisions. Instead, the reactors are buried in concrete deep in the ground at military bases and other secure outposts. Beats using diesel generators.

While TerraPower and Hyperion are staffed and run by experienced nuclear executives, Babcock & Wilson can brag about something else. Namely, that they've been in the nuclear reactor construction business for 50 years. That, and they have lots of money. Nuclear power plants, even small ones, take years to build.

Like it or not, nuclear will likely play a central role in the debate about the global energy future. Applications for around 30 new reactors in the U.S. are expected to be filed in the next few years. Some European countries are re-examining their nuclear policies. And some companies claim they can show that fusion power, which is supposed to be much safer, can become feasible.

Unlike PV panels or wind, nuclear plants can provide large amounts of baseline power consistently. Nuclear plants also don't emit carbon dioxide. But objections remain high, and bomb tests in North Korea do raise questions about how to keep a lid on some of this knowledge. Other critics also question whether nuclear plants can be competitive or whether they will require even larger subsidies than renewables get.

It is one of the most interesting debates in the space.