RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT: Making Nuclear Competitive Again: Identifying the keys

Nuclear power was once considered cheap because of its very low fuel costs. That has not been the case in the West, since the end of the building spree in the 1980s, which was triggered by the reactor accident in the US at Three Mile Island.

Capital costs have increased in part to improve safety. Also, the very large reactors that are now being built in small numbers in US and Europe only are proving to be both very expensive and slow to complete.

We examine the response of the industry, making use of production engineering methods for both large and small reactors, and simplifying reactor designs by the use of different coolants and more advanced technologies. We find that nuclear power, if built in larger numbers as programs using a production system, they can be competitive with renewable energy systems that have the means to make their inherently variable power just as reliable as nuclear.

"The results of decade of work on how to fix the cost problem with nuclear energy - now summarised," Tony Roulstone, Dept of Engineering, University of Cambridge

The very large reactors that are now being built in small numbers in US and Europe only are proving to be both very expensive and slow to complete.

We examine the response of the industry, making use of production engineering methods for both large and small reactors, and simplifying reactor designs by the use of different coolants and more advanced technologies.

We find that nuclear power, if built in larger numbers as programs using a production system, they can be competitive with renewable energy systems that have the means to make their inherently variable power just as reliable as nuclear.
 

Tony Roulstone, Making Nuclear Competitive Again: Identifying the keys, IEEE Electrification Magazine (Volume: 12, Issue: 4, December 2024). DoI: 10.1109/MELE.2024.3473128