An economic analysis has been performed to compare four nuclear fuel cycle options: a once-through cycle (OT), DUPIC recycling,\r\nthermal recycling using MOX fuel in a pressurized water reactor (PWR-MOX), and sodium fast reactor recycling employing\r\npyroprocessing (Pyro-SFR). This comparison was made to suggest an economic competitive fuel cycle for the Republic of Korea.\r\nThe fuel cycle cost (FCC) has been calculated based on the equilibrium material flows integrated with the unit cost of the fuel\r\ncycle components. The levelized fuel cycle costs (LFCC) have been derived in terms of mills/kWh for a fair comparison among\r\nthe FCCs, and the results are as follows: OT 7.35 mills/kWh, DUPIC 9.06 mills/kWh, PUREX-MOX 8.94 mills/kWh, and Pyro-SFR\r\n7.70 mills/kWh. Due to unavoidable uncertainties, a cost range has been applied to each unit cost, and an uncertainty study has\r\nbeen performed accordingly. A sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to obtain the break-even uranium price (215$/kgU)\r\nfor the Pyro-SFR against the OT, which demonstrates that the deployment of the Pyro-SFR may be economical in the foreseeable\r\nfuture. The influence of pyrotechniques on the LFCC has also been studied to determine at which level the potential advantages of\r\nPyro-SFR can be realized.
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