The Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board’s Small Modular Reactor Subcommittee is tasked with advising the Secretary on how the United States can establish a global leadership role in this civil nuclear technology.

Small modular reactors, approximately one-third the size of current nuclear plants, have compact designs that are expected to offer a host of safety, siting, construction and economic benefits. Specifically, they could be made in factories and transported to sites where they would be ready to “plug and play” upon arrival, reducing both capital costs and construction times. The small size also makes SMRs ideal for small electric grids and for locations that cannot support large reactors, providing utilities with the flexibility to scale production as demand changes.

DOE has recognized the potential of these SMRs and has initiated a program to accelerate their commercialization. The vision is to have a fleet of SMRs built in the U.S. of sufficient size to make a significant contribution to the Nation’s clean energy goals.

The SEAB subcommittee will identify areas in which standards for safety, security, and nonproliferation should be developed for SMRs to enhance U.S. leadership in civil nuclear energy, as well as identify challenges, uncertainties and risks to commercialization and policies that may be appropriate to accelerate deployment in support of national goals. These considerations include economics, waste management and policy uncertainties.

Members of the public who wish to send questions or comments for the subcommittee’s consideration can send an email to SMRCommittee@hq.doe.gov.

For presentations from SMR Subcommittee meetings and other background documents, please see the Program Links.