Red-Hot Mapping

In something of a coincidence with the event described in the previous post, I have created a new map which covers nuclear power reactors in North America.  Most of these are in the US, of course, as America is the global leader in nuclear power generation.  But Canada has its own independent nuclear industry centered in Ontario, which lacks Quebec's massive hydropower potential, and I've included those plants.  Mexico also has one lone plant, which it imported from America.

In the period after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi incident, I published an number of posts on nuclear power.  I've largely lost interest since then because the industry seemed destined to become moridbund, which largely happened.  But in the past few years there has been an increasing amount of hype around "small modular reactors," which promise to solve the problem of the massive up-front costs required to build large reactors such as the AP1000 units in Georgia or the EPR units at Flamanville and Olkiluoto.  On the map I have noted 8 different SMR projects from 7 different vendors as being reasonably firm, given the amount of subsidies flowing to them at this point.  The currently authorized subsidies won't be enough to get the projects to completion, but for now I am assuming the subsidies will continue to flow.  But past history indicates that costs will escalate rapidly, and politicians will balk at some point, most likely after considerable concrete has been poured.

Time will tell, of course, but until then enjoy the new map.