One of the reasons why the old reactors were so expensive was the extra costs due to years of delays caused by environmental and (exaggerated) safety concerns objections. If someone plans a project to take a given time to complete, say 7 years, and it ends up taking far longer, then the project's budget will be blown sky high. Those extra project costs have to be recouped, resulting in higher electricity costs. I remember back in the 1970s when the nuclear reactor industry was at its height. The same people who did everything possible to delay reactor projects and drive up the costs would then turn around and say the projects were so expensive because of the delays. Sounds like hutzpha to me.

It may be naive on my part, but I can hope that a reactor design that's proven inherently safe would have an easier time being built and certified for operations. The US Navy has successfully built and operated nuclear reactors for decades. R&D hasn't come to a stop on new reactor technology. There will still be the usual environmental objections, of course.