Some of the important advantages of the small reactors may be summarized as follows:

• They are adequate for countries with small electric grids and insufficient infrastructure.

• They are adequate for countries that have limited capacities for investment, especially in relation to hard currency, and small turnover of capital in the electricity market.

• They offer an option of electricity generation coupled with seawater desalination, which meets the urgent needs of many developing countries.

• They could offer a variety of passive safety features that may be difficult to obtain with large reactors. This fact makes them a good potential choice for countries with insufficient nuclear infrastructure and limited number of human resource.

• They provide an attractive domain for fuel leasing and facilitate an option of factory fuelled and transportable power plant, such as barge-mounted, which may be a solution for countries with limited capabilities in mastering nuclear fuel cycle, or for those who prefer to be just the end users of nuclear power.

• In industrialized countries, electricity market deregulation is calling for power generation flexibility that smaller reactors may offer.

• They are of particular interest for advanced future non-electric applications, such as hydrogen production, coal liquefaction, etc.

• They provide means for learning knowledge and technology from a small prototype plant.

• As nuclear reactors do not emit carbon dioxide, they will provide the developing and industrialized countries with sustainable development through both, electricity production and process heat applications.

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