Small Modular Reactors Summit
May 15 to 18
Education Day, May 16
Grand Rapids Area
For details contact Michael Keegan at mkeeganj@comcast.net
What are SMRs? Small modular reactors (SMRs) are nuclear fission reactors that are smaller than the traditional nuclear power plant (generally 300 MW or less), and are manufactured at a factory and brought to a site.
What’s wrong with SMRs? They are costly, with one unit easily costing $1 billion, representing a large up-front capital cost per megawatt. SMRs are a resource diversion from less expensive clean renewable energy. They face long regulatory delays, with most taking four years to be certified with additional uncertainty around unproven technologies, and the potential for radioactive leaks. SMRs generate a larger volume of long-lived, high level radioactive waste per unit of electricity compared to traditional, large scale nuclear plants.
The proposed NuScale SMR project in Idaho began in 2007 with an estimated cost of $4.2 billion in 2018, rising to over $9 billion in November 2023 when it was terminated because it was economically unfeasible. This failed project leaves no active construction of SMRs in the U.S. today. But Holtec International is proceeding with plans to build SMRs at the site of the Palisades Nuclear plant in Covert Township, which they have been working to restart after it was decommissioned.
“Holtec has never built or operated a nuclear plant, but has received billions from us taxpayers, has taken shortcuts on repairs, and has subsequently damaged the Palisades reactor,” says Michigan Sierra Club leader Ed McArdle. “Holtec has proposed two 300 MW each of the ‘so-called’ small modular nuclear reactors for the Palisades nuclear site. The site chosen for the Holtec SMR’s is next to the fenceline of Van Buren State Park on the shore of Lake Michigan.”
Want to know more? The SMR Summit will provide an opportunity to learn more about this new technology that is being promoted as the future of nuclear power. The full Summit is planned for May 15 to 18 but if you can only make one day, Saturday, May 16 is the education day, which will be a good time to learn more from the experts on SMRs. The event is being planned by Don’t Waste Michigan, Nuclear Energy Information Services (NEIS) along with the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. For more info contact Michael Keegan at mkeeganj@comcast.net
Additional background information on SMRs can be found at the below links:
Susan O'Donnell, Ph.D. , and M.V. Ramana, Ph.D. on SMRs
Report on SMRs in Canada.
https://cedar-project.org/roadmap/
From Godon Edwards, Ph.D. (Gordon opens Friday May 15th followed by QA.
He gave a Webinar on Feb 26, 2026) entitled Debunking Nuclear Hopium. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vApPEW0eAVQ
Read some of the Michigan Chapter’s blogs on the Palisades Nuclear plant for background here:
The Raising from the Dead: Palisades Nuclear Plant Public Meeting July 11th, 7/5/24
NRC Approval Moves Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Closer to Restarting, 8/1/25
Issues continue to pile up for Palisades Nuclear Plant restart, 3/13/26