Report says new nuclear reactor is risky; utilities disagree

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Associated Press

A report released Thursday says a new type of nuclear reactor that would provide carbon-free energy to at least four states in the Western U.S. poses financial risks for utilities and their ratepayers. It was immediately criticized as misinformed by the project’s owner and the company developing the reactor. The report by the Ohio-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said the small modular nuclear reactor being developed by NuScale Power is “too expensive, too risky and too uncertain.” The NuScale design is the only small-scale reactor to win safety approval so far from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.