In the autumn of 2002, Senate appropriators recommended earmarking $3-million in FY03 for design work on small modular reactors that could be easily transported and used to generate power in remote communities. The concept has the support of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), whose constituents in isolated parts of Alaska could benefit from the reactor technology. Stevens became chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee when the Congress reconvened in January 2003. The Senate Appropriations Committee report on the energy and water development appropriations bill (Report 107-220) said members were interested in the development of small reactors that would be "inherently safe, be relatively cost effective, contain intrinsic design features which would deter sabotage or diversion, require infrequent refuelings, and be largely factory constructed and deliverable to remote sites."

Also championing the concept is Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), whose district includes the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the labs participating in the development of a very small, economical, proliferation-resistant reactor. Tauscher is not on the House Appropriations Committee. The House version of the spending bill, H.R. 5431, recommended a total of $41.5-million for nuclear energy technologies, but unlike the Senate measure, did not indicate how the money should be spent.

The idea for such a small reactor -- somewhere in the range of about 50 megawatts -- has been floating around for about a half-dozen years but only now has "matured" enough to receive funding for further development, says Dana Christensen, deputy associate director for the Energy & Environment Directorate at Lawrence Livermore. But, he said, "We're still at the infancy of the project." The concept planners believe the reactor could have applications other than electricity generation, including use for hydrogen production or for desalination.

[Source: Jenny Weil (McGraw-Hill), "Small reactors for remote areas get congressional attention", Nucleonics Week, November 28, 2002, p. 9]