Transportation of small modular reactor modules: What do the experts say?

One of the key characteristics of small modular reactors (SMRs), as their name emphasised, is the modularization. Modularization implies factory production, which in turn implies transportation of large, heavy, complex and fragile modules from the factory to the site. Various vendors and organisations are developing several SMR concepts and designs, but there are extremely limited information about the crucial element of modules transportation. Conversely, in other industries (e.g. Oil & Gas), the experience on modules transportation is much greater. This paper provides a structured analysis for the knowledge transfer from the general literature (i.e. other major infrastructure) to the SMR world. Firstly, the paper provides a summary of the literature about transporting large modules. In the second part, the paper presents and discusses the results of a series of interviews with transport industry experts about large modules transportation. The third part provides a summary of the findings and the key takeaways.