Rushing regulatory for a construction project where failures are as severe as they can potentially be with nuclear is beyond deranged.
Getting to the timelines you’re mentioning would require a mature nuclear industry with standardized builds, something which would take more than a decade to develop, at a steep premium.
Again, I support any investor willing to go there to do so, but there’s a good reason none do - these things quite simply do not pencil out.
Why is profitability a requirement for infrastructure? Is mass-transit profitable? Is air travel profitable? Are highways profitable? Are suburbs profitable? Why is that even a concern? Would coal or gas plants be profitable?
Hell, are solar panels actually profitable? I’m not so sure.
regulatory: 3-5 years
site prep and build: 3-5 years
stocking, staffing, startup: 1-2 years
If we rush the regulatory, it’s then 4-7 years; or not even one decade.
I’m not saying it’s overnight, but it’s not ‘decades’.
Rushing regulatory for a construction project where failures are as severe as they can potentially be with nuclear is beyond deranged.
Getting to the timelines you’re mentioning would require a mature nuclear industry with standardized builds, something which would take more than a decade to develop, at a steep premium.
Again, I support any investor willing to go there to do so, but there’s a good reason none do - these things quite simply do not pencil out.
SMRs take a few years, and a fraction of the price, which is why China is building them and already has one on line.
Where’s a real world example of a nuclear plant being built in just 4 years? In the US it’s more like 10 years, at least.
No one’s building them because they’re barely profitable even after they’re up and running for many years.
France https://www.ans.org/news/article-7625/flamanville3-reaches-full-power/
Why is profitability a requirement for infrastructure? Is mass-transit profitable? Is air travel profitable? Are highways profitable? Are suburbs profitable? Why is that even a concern? Would coal or gas plants be profitable? Hell, are solar panels actually profitable? I’m not so sure.
Chinese SMR.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-start-commercial-operation-first-small-modular-nuclear-reactor-2026-2025-12-11/
Ontario is building 4 SMRs, the first will be operational in 2028.
This thread is like US nuclear, 40 years behind.
39 months for Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan