ASSESSMENT OF SMALL AND MODULAR REACTOR NUCLEAR FUEL COST

Abstract

The nuclear energy industry is experiencing a renaissance of new reactor design and construction in Asia, North America, and Europe. The new Generation III designs are some of the largest ever built, featuring improved efficiency, construction in modules and passive safety systems in most designs. Along with these large designs, a new class of small modular reactors is vying for the fossil fuel market share of electricity generation. Experience with the nuclear fuels cycle has shown that operating costs of commercial light water reactors are well understood. A simple model of fuel cost based on publicly available nuclear fuels market and reactor design parameters is employed to estimate fuel cost for comparison among the new reactor designs. Such a comparison of the variable cost of nuclear energy can benefit a utility or nation in planning for new power plants. Additionally, the reactor design parameters of the model are incremented in a sensitivity study to determine optimum design improvements for lowest fuel cost. At current design parameters, small and modular reactors are found to have fuel costs roughly 50% higher than those of large Generation III reactors.