Small Modular Reactors Day event is an international platform for discussing benefits of Small Modular Reactors
Rosatom, Russian nuclear power company, has hosted Small Modular Reactors Day, the key event of its ‘Breakthrough Technologies for a Sustainable Future’ programme at EXPO 2020 in Dubai, the company said on Thursday.
During Small Modular Reactors Day, the key event of its ‘Breakthrough Technologies for a Sustainable Future’ programme at EXPO 2020, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, World Nuclear Association head Sama Bilbao y Leon, and high-ranking representatives from international organizations, foreign governments and partner companies attended the event.
According to the company’s statement, Small Modular Reactors Day was an international platform for discussing the benefits of Small Modular Reactors, the prospects for their development and how this technology can be applied around the world.
During his speech at the event, Rosatom’s Director General Alexey Likhachev said that the world is currently seeing ‘favorable changes’ in how nuclear energy is perceived.
‘It was clear that people were realizing that a carbon-free future is impossible without the peaceful use of nuclear technology,’ he said and added that it is impossible to achieve a stable, low-carbon energy system based only on variable energy sources.
‘The role that nuclear energy can play in helping the world move away from hydrocarbons and meet our collective climate goals is now firmly in the public consciousness.’he stated.
‘Small modular reactors occupy a different niche. They supply power to remote regions, island states, countries with lower power needs or specific industrial projects, such as mining projects. There are other clear advantages of small modular reactor technologies, including their modularity the ability to quickly scale power up and down to meet demand – quicker construction periods and lower start-up costs.’
Likhachev also explained that the small modular reactors can provide energy and heat to areas where large-capacity nuclear power plants are either economically inaccessible or inappropriate due to geographic features or territorial restrictions.