DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

However, not only countries such as China, India, Korea, Russia, Turkey, etc. are still building such units. In Western Europe, with the 1,600 MW EPR (European Pressurized Reactor) model, apart from the French prototype at Flamanville, one has recently been commissioned in Finland (Olkiluoto) and two are under construction in the UK (Hinkley Point).
In this section of DYNA we have often reported on different proposals for alternative nuclear units to the above-mentioned high-power ones. These are the so-called SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) which have been planned by different organizations for some years: https://www.revistadyna.com/noticias-de-ingenieria/rolls-royce-propone-reactores-modulares
https://www.revistadyna.com/noticias-de-ingenieria/eeuu-parece-apostar-por-pequenos-reactores-modulares-smr
On the other hand, the current popularity for the development of hydrogen as an energy vector and the need to cover a strong demand for electricity, obtained without emissions of harmful gases, destined to massive hydrolysis to achieve it, have led to consider this type of reactors as ideal for this purpose (see https://www.revistadyna.com/noticias-de-ingenieria/francia-basara-su-energia-del-hidrogeno-en-energia-nuclear-smr). In addition, SMRs operate with less uranium, the uranium may be leaner and their waste has a much shorter radioactive life.
In addition, they are not water-cooled units, but different types of molten salts are being considered as heat transfer elements, both in the USA (see https://www.revistadyna.com/noticias-de-ingenieria/el-depto-de-energia-de-eeuu-apoya-prototipo-del-reactor-natrium) and in China, where a 2 MW prototype, cooled by molten salts and using thorium as radioactive material, is to be commissioned this year in Wuwei, a desert area in Gansu province. If the results are confirmed, the commercial size of 100 MW would be reached.
Going a step further in these developments, Japan's Mitsubishi is proposing a 1 MW microreactor, totally solid state, without any liquid coolant, using graphite as heat transfer to an air stream. The entire installation, including the generator, can be placed in a standard 40-foot container and run on uranium enriched to only 20%.