small modular reactors; sociology of expectations; politics of scaling; scaling up; nuclear reactor; nuclear energy; innovation community; strategic promises; narratives; advanced nuclear technology
Abstract :
[en] While vendors and international nuclear organizations increasingly publicize Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as a compelling solution for current and future global energy landscapes, little is known about whether this broad promissory discourse is shared among scientists and engineers directly involved in SMR research and development.
Juxtaposing publicly voiced SMR expectation narratives on cost, flexibility, environment, safety, and proliferation with the situated expectations of 25 European engineers and nuclear physicists involved in the design of a sodium-fast SMR (ESFR-SIMPLE) reveals overall alignment between international proponents’ and experts’ expectations. Despite some noteworthy discrepancies, interviewees only tempered the expectation narratives constitutive of the broad SMR promissory discourse, drawing on their technical expertise to challenge peripheral claims also contained in these narratives.
This relative alignment was enabled by the interpretative flexibility embedded in the SMR promissory discourse, with expectation narratives offering broad frames of reference for experts to interpret and adjust their assessments to. Additionally, the SMR techno-scientific promise also acted as a discursive umbrella, providing a shelter for experts’ situated expectations. Specifically, interviewees valued the broad SMR promissory discourse as it was perceived as an opportunity to rebrand nuclear power and attract resources to the nuclear sector – albeit via less efficient but highly marketable, downsized reactors. Ultimately, SMRs were not seen as an end in themselves but as a steppingstone toward the
long-term revival of large-scale nuclear projects.
Research Center/Unit :
Centre de Recherces Spiral Cité - ULiège
Disciplines :
Law, criminology & political science: Multidisciplinary, general & others Engineering, computing & technology: Multidisciplinary, general & others Social & behavioral sciences, psychology: Multidisciplinary, general & others Business & economic sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Sabbe, Mathias ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Cité ; Liège University
Parotte, Céline ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Cité ; Liège University
Language :
English
Title :
Small Modular Reactors: scaling down to better scale-up?
Alternative titles :
[fr] Petits Réacteurs Modulaires : modèle réduit pour mieux déployer le nucléaire?
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