Jeff Merrifield Comments on Deployment of Advanced Nuclear Reactors

“Unlike the previous generation of nuclear power plants, which were only used by large integrated utilities, the sizes of the advanced reactors which range from microreactors of a half-megawatt to 300 megawatts or more, means that there is a significantly larger number of utilities that can utilize these technologies,” Energy partner and former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Jeff Merrifield told CNBC.

Due to the small size of modular reactors and less expensive cost, Merrifield notes that small nuclear reactors have also piqued the interest of industrial producers as they are a carbon-free source of heat.

“One aspect of many of the advanced reactor technologies, including high-temperature gas, molten-salt and sodium fast reactors, is they can produce industrial grade heat for non-power purposes or combined heat and power applications for industries such as steel making, chemical production, cement production, and milling and mining among many others,” he said.

Westinghouse currently has several agreements in place to build large nuclear reactors in multiple countries, and, according to Merrifield, several more countries across Africa and Asia, including but not limited to Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also taken interest in large nuclear reactors.

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