Stakeholder perspectives on the cost requirements of Small Modular Reactors

• Published in: Progress in nuclear energy (New series) Vol. 112; pp. 51 - 62
• Main Authors: Agar, Amritpal Singh, Goodfellow, Martin J., Goh, Yee Mey, Newnes, Linda B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: AHP; Analytic hierarchy process; Cost analysis; Costs; Decision analysis; Electricity pricing; Levelized cost of electricity; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle costs; Nuclear electric power generation; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear reactors; Product life cycle; Small and modular reactors; Stakeholder; Stakeholder analysis; Stakeholders; AHP; Nuclear power plants; Stakeholder; Levelized cost of electricity; Small and modular reactors
• ISSN: 0149-1970; 1878-4224
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pnucene.2018.12.006

The cost of a nuclear power plant (NPP) is an important influence on the future commercial success of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). At the early design stage, the cost requirements of SMRs can be derived from an analysis of the factors driving the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE). It is often much later into the development process before customers are engaged and their cost requirements are known, by which time key design decisions which influence the lifecycle cost have already been locked-in. A clear understanding is required of the cost priorities for the key stakeholders who are to invest in the SMR. This paper presents a novel approach to ranking the relative importance of different cost factors used to calculate the LCOE. Using a dynamic stakeholder analysis, the key decision-makers for each stage of the SMR product lifecycle are identified. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with pair-wise comparisons obtained from nuclear cost experts is employed to rank the different factors in terms of their relative importance on the commercial success of a near-term deployable SMR. Each expert provides a different set of rankings, although project financing cost is consistently the most important for the successful commercial deployment of the SMR. The approach presented in this paper can be used as a verification method for any power generation technology to provide confidence that cost requirements are adequately captured to design for life cycle cost competitiveness from the perspective of different stakeholders. •Nuclear cost experts are consistent in their understanding of the commercial success factors of a near-term deployable SMR.•Stakeholders from different lifecycle stages were interviewed to elicit their preferences on SMR cost characteristics.•AHP with expert elicitation is used to rank the relative importance of cost factors influencing the LCOE.•Project financing is ranked as the most important cost factor influencing the commercial success of the SMR.•Further research is required to understand the interdependencies between cost factors influencing the LCOE.