Population Sensitivity Evaluation of Two Candidate Locations for Possible Small Modular Reactor Siting

Abstract

Geographic information systems technology was applied to analyze federal energy demand across the contiguous US. The Hampton Roads, Virginia, area was identified, along with several other areas, as a significant federal energy cluster. Several Hampton Roads area facilities were previously evaluated for potential to host a small modular reactor (SMR). This study evaluates two of those individual sites for sensitivity to population density. Sensitivity to population density is a significant factor when determining the potential for siting new SMRs and possibly repowering older coal plant sites with SMRs.