Small Nuclear Reactors Will Not Save The Day - An Article Warning the Nuclear Future Is Still A Long Way Off and Expensive

24th September 2025

An article published on oilprice.com yesterday 23 September 2025 “Small Nuclear Reactors Will Not Save The Day” by Leon Stille warns that the hype is running way ahead of the reality.

The article argues that small modular reactors (SMRs) are being hyped as a silver-bullet solution to energy and climate challenges but that this hype doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

SMRs are currently being promoted as compact, cheaper, scalable alternatives to traditional large nuclear plants, positioned as the solution for powering data centres, AI hubs, industrial clusters, and remote grids.

However, none are yet operating commercially. The author points out that flagship projects have already encountered problems: for instance, a U.S. effort by NuScale was cancelled after cost overruns and difficulty raising investment, and Rolls-Royce’s SMR facility has not yet produced any equipment.

The article draws comparisons to large nuclear projects, many of which have also failed to deliver on time or on budget (for example, Hinkley Point C in the UK, and EPR projects in France and Finland). These struggles suggest systemic risks in nuclear deployment—even before factoring in SMRs.

One major concern is economics. To make SMRs financially viable, governments are being asked to guarantee minimum power prices for decades. Yet in many regions, renewables (solar, wind) already win power auctions at much lower prices. This raises the question: why lock in higher costs for nuclear over the long term?

Deployment scale is another issue. Even if a handful of SMR designs are approved by the late 2020s or early 2030s, the world would need to build thousands of them rapidly to make a dent in energy supply. That’s a huge logistical, regulatory, and material challenge.

The author also addresses the usual nuclear concerns—waste, safety risks, public acceptance, regulatory bottlenecks, uranium supply—and suggests that these challenges are not trivial to overcome.

Rather than seeing SMRs as a core pillar of the energy transition, the article suggests they may only be suitable in niche roles (e.g. remote sites, specialized industrial use) where alternatives aren’t viable.

The overall message is that SMRs are being oversold. For now, the more effective and proven path to decarbonisation lies with technologies already deploying at scale—wind, solar, battery storage, grid flexibility, heat pumps, etc. Nuclear (small or large) should be a secondary option, not the lead hero.

Read the full article HERE