The core module of China's forthcoming commercial

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SMR being transported last summer IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, This is the core module of China's forthcoming commercial SMR Today most companies developing SMRs for commercial use are focusing on helping towns and cities to keep their lights on. However, a clutch of specialist firms have decided that data centres are the best candidates for their SMR designs. Dr Michael Bluck runs the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London. "Data centres are power hungry things, but with AI we're moving into a new level of power requirements," he says. "There are about 50 SMR designs out there. The challenge is to build them in repeatable units, factory style, standardising production lines.

"There's no reason why a small fast reactor can't power a data centre, except that you have to get it past the regulator." In the US, one SMR design from a company called NuScale has already been given the go-ahead by Brazil Mobile Number List the Office of Nuclear Energy. Meanwhile, in the UK the Office for Nuclear Regulation is continuing to study SMR designs from Rolls-Royce and US tech firm Holtec International. And US energy firm Westinghouse wants to build four SMRs in north east England, in Tees Valley, close to the existing Hartlepool nuclear power station. Banner around links to stories about AI Read additional stories on artificial intelligence Banner around links to stories about AI Dr Bluck thinks nuclear submarines offer a compelling safety case for SMR technology.



We build a reactor and put it in a submarine, and people sleep within two yards of it." And he forecasts the tech sector's involvement in SMR development will prove decisive. "These guys have got oodles of cash!" By contrast, Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, says that the high cost of SMRs will prove to be too great a barrier. Unrealistic hype lies behind the cost estimates for SMRs," he says. "This hype will fall away as delays and difficulties emerge." Dr Parr argues that data centre operators will get cold feet when revised costings emerge to render SMRs uncompetitive compared with renewable energy sources. Greenpeace is also opposed to nuclear power on safety grounds, pointing out the risk of accidents, and the need to deal with the radioactive waste.