Columbia Business Times: Hope for Missouri-Made SMRs
UPDATE: Since the CBT went to press, Westinghouse has announced the redistribution of staff previously devoted to the development of small modular reactors. Although Ameren Missouri’s exclusive agreement with Westinghouse has expired, the company continues to consider its options moving forward—including keeping a close eye on how the companies that did receive government funding fare in the development of SMR technology.
In the heart of the heartland is Callaway County, Missouri’s second largest county at about 928 square miles. Hovering above the county’s patchwork of farmland is Callaway Nuclear Power Plant, the heartbeat of the county.
With a scattered population of 44,000, Callaway County may very well be the site of a potential worldwide manufacturing plant for small modular reactors, giving Missouri — and Callaway — a chance to shine.
Callaway Energy Center, built in 1984, allows for low electric rates to more than 750,000 households in the area, including larger cities such as Columbia. The rates are “much lower than national, lower than the Midwest and just about the lowest electric rates in the state of Missouri,” says Warren Wood, Ameren Missouri’s vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs.
About 20 percent of Ameren Missouri’s power comes from Callaway; the remaining 80 percent comes mainly from coal-powered plants. The small modular reactors, or SMRs, are drawing-board units and at a cost of $900 million to $1 billion each, could possibly be produced in mass in Missouri if Ameren Missouri and other electric companies, as well as stakeholders, have their way.
