Small Modular Reactors: The Future of Nuclear Energy?

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are being explored by the NRC and DOE as a means of producing nuclear energy on a smaller scale. Because of their modularity, they are presumed to be both less costly and more efficient to produce. This paper describes the historical context of SMRs, as well as potential issues relating to the social context of SMRs if they are deployed in society on different scales, from the local to the national and international. Understanding SMRs as sociotechnical systems allows for different conception of the role of SMRs as a technology that could potentially reorganize society, which needs to be accounted for prior to deployment. The concept of the sociotechnical imaginary also provides another way of considering how SMRs both shape and are shaped by national imperatives for energy production and markets.