Manufacturers of small modular reactors (SMRs) must settle on the deployment of one or two technologies to allow them to develop at scale and bring costs down, according to the head of the World Bank.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the US-based Bretton Woods Committee (BWC) to discuss solutions for economic stability for developing countries around the world, World Bank president Ajay Banga gave his timescale for SMRs to reach maturity.

“Small modular nuclear reactors are somewhere between three and five years before you figure out how you coalesce around one or two technologies. Until you do that you can’t get to scale, until you get that scale, you won’t get the costs down,” Banga said.