Lobbyists debate responses to the nuclear power crisis

There isn't the slightest chance that SMRs will fulfil the ambition of making nuclear power "substantially cheaper" unless and until a manufacturing supply chain is mass producing SMRs for a mass market ‒ and even then, it's doubtful whether the power would be cheaper and highly unlikely that it would be substantially cheaper. After all, economies-of-scale have driven the long-term drift towards larger reactors.

As things stand, no country, company or utility has any intention of betting billions on building an SMR supply chain. The prevailing scepticism is evident in a February 2017 Lloyd's Register report based on "insights and opinions of leaders across the sector" and the views of almost 600 professionals and experts from utilities, distributors, operators and equipment manufacturers. Respondents predicted that SMRs have a "low likelihood of eventual take-up, and will have a minimal impact when they do arrive".

In the absence of a mass supply chain, SMRs will be expensive curiosities. The construction cost of Argentina's 25 MWe CAREM reactor is estimated at US$446 million, which equates to a whopping US$17.8 billion / GW. Estimated construction costs for the Russian floating plant have increased more than four-fold and now equate to over US$10 billion / GW.

Small or large reactors, consolidation or innovation, conventional reactors or Generation IV pipe-dreams ... it's not clear that the nuclear industry will be able to recover however it responds to its current crisis.