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I would have thought that SMR design would be more inspired by nuclear submarines and such which are already small, not necessarily large power stations, but admittedly I don't know anything in this area.

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Nuclear subs are a lot more exotic, you need to go from 0-60 in a few seconds, so they make fuel plates instead of rods so it really bumps up the neutron population quickly.

There’s no need to adjust criticality that rapidly at a generating station.

Also, they tend to use much higher enrichment ratios on the fuel from what I have read. I guess that is all for the fast power output regulation as you write. Stunning technology and a security nightmare, just imagine a nuclear sub bumping into a click in territorial waters of a not-so-friendly nation and making the area uninhabitable.

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