Small modular rectors can play an important role in hybrid energy systems with the potential to meet the needs of a wide range of users and to be a low-carbon replacement option for ageing fossil fuel fired power plants. Participants at an event on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference heard that there are some 50 small, medium-sized or modular reactor concepts at various stages of development around the world.These plants – which range in size from a couple of megawatts up to hundreds of megawatts, – are suitable for non-electric applications such as heating and water desalination, the agency said. They are designed to be built in factories and shipped to utilities for installation, deployable as a single or multi-module plant.