The nuclear ââ?¬Å?renaissanceââ?¬Â that is taking place worldwide concerns the new build of GW size reactor plants, but smaller GenIII+\nNPP (SmallModular Reactors, SMR) are on the verge to be commercially available and are raising increasing public interest. These\nreactor concepts rely on the pressurized water technology, capitalizing on thousands of reactor-years operations and enhancing the\npassive safety features, thanks to the smaller plant and equipment size. On the other hand, smaller plant size pays a loss of economy\nof scale,which might have a relevant impact on the generation costs of electricity, given the capital-intensive nature of nuclear power\ntechnology. Thepaper explores the economic advantages/disadvantages ofmultiple SMRcompared to alternative large plants of the\nsame technology and equivalent total power installed. The metrics used in the evaluation is twofold, as appropriate for liberalized\nmarkets of capital and electricity: investment profitability and investment risk are assessed, from the point of view of the plant\nowner. Results show that multiple SMR deployed on the same site may prove competitive with investment returns of larger plants,\nwhile offering, in addition, unique features that mitigate the investment risk.
Loading....