IQ2 had a debate on nuclear power. One of the arguments against expansion was that nuclear reactor design is basically bespoke for every installation and that the promise of rapid, cheap deployment has not been realized in many years (decades).
> nuclear reactor design is basically bespoke for every installation
Which is exactly what new modular designs like the one described in this article are trying to change: get away from the custom-built mentality and build nuclear reactors out of standardized, modular components. In other words, the way we already build lots of other things in order to make them cheaper and more reliable (since most of the assembly is done in factories in controlled environments).
20 years ago it was just around the corner. In fact, they said the Russians were about to deploy them: container-sized nuclear power plants that were basically maintenance-free and just ran on their own until they shut themselves down. Made by the hundreds from standard pieces. Safe if messed with. Safe after retirement. There were websites and nice diagrams and mock-ups and everything. Tell me how we're in a different phase now.
Without funding it's not going to get moved anywhere. The main design work on them was upscaling them and lowering enrichment + work on reducing any possibility of reusing breed plutonium from them.
If they kept to high enrichment, they could pretty start making and packing container-sized powerplants, but the old designs were designed for 50MW, while the uprated, civilian ones were for min. 100MWe
Interesting episode, I wish I retained more of it: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/02/10/iq2-debate-expand-n...