Inside the U.S. government project to create tiny nuclear reactors like batteries
Nuclear reactors have a well-earned reputation for being massive construction projects that frequently run into cost overruns. Plus, once they are eventually constructed, monitoring and maintaining them takes a staff of dozens of trained experts.
But Yasir Arafat believes nuclear power doesn’t have to be this way.
Arafat is the technical lead of the microreactor project at one of the United States government’s preeminent nuclear research labs, Idaho National Lab, and in his role there, Arafat is leading the effort to build a tiny, relatively inexpensive nuclear reactor. It’s more of a nuclear battery, he says.
Arafat grew up in Bangladesh before coming to college in the United States, and he’s motivated by a deep sense of urgency to help the world decarbonize. The effects of global warming are not discussed as some distant future scenario in Bangladesh — climate change is already a part of current daily life. Nuclear energy does not generate any greenhouse gas emissions, and Arafat hopes to contribute to the solution by building a microreactor prototype that can help the development of the industry.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.