There are great expectations for small modular reactors.

In nuclear circles they represent the arrival, at long last, of the nuclear renaissance, the dawn of a new nuclear age.

But an unusual number of questions hang over SMRs:

• How will they be brought to market?
• Are they really going to be cheaper than traditional light water reactors on a power-per-dollar basis?
• Which of all the new entrants will survive in the market?
• Will SMRs facilitate large-scale hydrogen production?
• Can the NRC handle licensing a variety of design concepts?
• How about the utilities? Which ones are going to buy and build?

The United States Energy Association plans to get answers to these questions at its next virtual press briefing on October 17 at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, when journalists who cover energy question experts in the field — those with the answers.

The SMR briefing will feature a diverse panel of gifted and experienced executives who know the technology, the financing, the utility needs and the public acceptance.

Mark Menezes, USEA President and CEO, and former deputy secretary of energy, will contribute his expertise as appropriate. Llewellyn King has organized and will moderate the briefing.

The USEA, which neither lobbies nor favors one fuel over another, has brought clarity to critical energy issues since 1924.

The SMR briefing, which is open to the press and the public, will be broadcast live on Zoom and will be available afterwards on both the USEA and the Energy Central websites.