Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors During Grid Disruption
Micro Nuclear Reactors (MNRs) are an emerging innovation in nuclear technology as small, portable, and self-sufficient reactor units in the size of a standard 40-foot shipping container. An MNR functions as a ?nuclear battery,? where each unit can power load capacities from 500 kilowatts (kW) to 5 megawatts (MW) over the lifetime of 1?10 years. This technology may deploy by the end of the 2020 decade, so private and government organizations have prepared for potential operational use for energy resilience. This research develops an emergency grid disruption timeline with MNR deployments to respond and recover grids after severe weather events. This response integrates a series of models for transportation networks, power distribution, and decision strategies that utilize MNR capabilities while using real-world disruption events within the past decade for scenarios. The study then seeks to analyze the performance of MNRs when using different deployment strategies for emergency grid disruption response. First, this research investigates the trade-offs between time and cost in the emergency grid disruption timeline when integrating MNRs. This research also explores the conditions of disruption scenarios that contribute to the best MNR performance in grid recovery
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - Micro Nuclear Reactors (MNRs) are an emerging innovation in nuclear technology as small, portable, and self-sufficient reactor units in the size of a standard 40-foot shipping container. An MNR functions as a “nuclear battery,” where each unit can power load capacities from 500 kilowatts (kW) to 5 megawatts (MW) over the lifetime of 1–10 years. This technology may deploy by the end of the 2020 decade, so private and government organizations have prepared for potential operational use for energy resilience. This research develops an emergency grid disruption timeline with MNR deployments to respond and recover grids after severe weather events. This response integrates a series of models for transportation networks, power distribution, and decision strategies that utilize MNR capabilities while using real-world disruption events within the past decade for scenarios. The study then seeks to analyze the performance of MNRs when using different deployment strategies for emergency grid disruption response. First, this research investigates the trade-offs between time and cost in the emergency grid disruption timeline when integrating MNRs. This research also explores the conditions of disruption scenarios that contribute to the best MNR performance in grid recovery
AU - Ivey, Carlan A.
A2 - Kay, Michael G.
A3 - Thoney-Barletta, Kristin A.
A4 - Hodgson, Thom J.
A5 - McConnell, Brandon M
DB - C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - Small nuclear reactors
KW - Battery energy storage
KW - Solar
KW - Photovoltaics
KW - PV
KW - Diesel generators
KW - Other liquid-fuel generators
KW - Case studies
KW - Performance
KW - Resilience
KW - Extreme weather
KW - Standards
KW - Interconnection
KW - Protection
LA - English
DA - 2024/05/01
PY - 2024
PB - U.S. Army
T1 - Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors
During Grid Disruption
UR - https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418
ER -
Ivey, Carlan A., et al. Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors
During Grid Disruption. U.S. Army, 1 May, 2024, C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418.
Ivey, C., Kay, M., Thoney-Barletta, K., Hodgson, T., & McConnell, B. (2024). Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors
During Grid Disruption. [Data set]. C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. U.S. Army. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418
Ivey, Carlan A., Michael G. Kay, Kristin A. Thoney-Barletta, Thom J. Hodgson, and Brandon M McConnell. Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors
During Grid Disruption. U.S. Army, May, 1, 2024. Distributed by C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418
@misc{CMIX_Dataset_418,
title = {Identifying Best Performance Scenarios for Micro Nuclear Reactors
During Grid Disruption},
author = {Ivey, Carlan A. and Kay, Michael G. and Thoney-Barletta, Kristin A. and Hodgson, Thom J. and McConnell, Brandon M},
abstractNote = {Micro Nuclear Reactors (MNRs) are an emerging innovation in nuclear technology as small, portable, and self-sufficient reactor units in the size of a standard 40-foot shipping container. An MNR functions as a ?nuclear battery,? where each unit can power load capacities from 500 kilowatts (kW) to 5 megawatts (MW) over the lifetime of 1?10 years. This technology may deploy by the end of the 2020 decade, so private and government organizations have prepared for potential operational use for energy resilience. This research develops an emergency grid disruption timeline with MNR deployments to respond and recover grids after severe weather events. This response integrates a series of models for transportation networks, power distribution, and decision strategies that utilize MNR capabilities while using real-world disruption events within the past decade for scenarios. The study then seeks to analyze the performance of MNRs when using different deployment strategies for emergency grid disruption response. First, this research investigates the trade-offs between time and cost in the emergency grid disruption timeline when integrating MNRs. This research also explores the conditions of disruption scenarios that contribute to the best MNR performance in grid recovery},
url = {https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange, U.S. Army, https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/418},
note = {Accessed: 2026-08-06}
}
Details
Data from May 1, 2024
Last updated Mar 30, 2026
Submitted Jun 2, 2026
Organization
U.S. Army
Contact
Brandon M. McConnell
Authors
