Purdue University and Duke Energy released an interim report Wednesday touting nuclear energy as a potential option for achieving zero carbon emissions on Purdue’s campus.
The school and Duke Energy announced last year they were looking into the possibility of using nuclear power to meet Purdue’s energy needs.
The report describes the small nuclear reactors being considered a “promising, carbon-free option for Purdue University.”
Small Modular Reactors, or SMRs, are smaller than traditional nuclear plants and can be built off-site and hooked into existing power grids. According to the interim report, they are also safer and easier to build than traditional nuclear reactors.
But the Union of Concerned Scientists has raised some concerns about the SMR safety claims, and call the idea that SMRs are “inherently” less dangerous than large nuclear reactors “misleading.”
There are a number of outstanding unknowns about SMRs – including how much they may cost. Some critics have raised concerns that the technology could even be a “distraction” from a necessary energy transition away from fossil fuels.
During its most recent session, the Indiana legislature moved forward with a bill that allows the construction of a slightly larger version of an SMR within the state. That’s in an effort to work with Rolls Royce, which hopes to develop a reactor larger than current state law permits.
This week’s report comes as a variety of campus groups have called on Purdue to come up with a plan for reaching zero emissions - pointing to a number of Big Ten peers who already have such plans in place.
The process of receiving regulatory approval and building a small modular reactor would take ten years, according to the report – which also underlines that “no decision to build a nuclear plant has been made.”
