The future and the development of power industry are the one of the major issues in the domestic and global policy. The impact of the power sector on the earth climate changes and the attention for sufficient funds of energy in the following years are the primary challenges which the power...

E3S Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in environment, energy and earth sciences

E3S Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in environment, energy and earth sciences

Due to the necessity of decarbonising and transforming the Polish energy mix, topic of using nuclear power plants as one of the key low-carbon generation sources is returning to the public debate. This paper compares a large, system-wide AP1000 nuclear power plant with a new concept based on small modular reactors (SMRs), specifically NuScale 60 MW_e. Computer models of secondary loops of the generating units were used for the analysis, and basic operating parameters were determined. A consistent modelling approach was used to evaluate technical, thermodynamic, and economic indicators. As a result, a relationship between total capital expenditures and unit electricity generation cost was developed. For example, if the investment outlays, taking into account the freeze, for a large-scale nuclear power plant are USD 8 billion, then the investment outlays for an SMR power plant should be below USD 0.4 billion in order to ultimately ensure a lower or equal unit discounted cost of electric energy generation. Assuming stable power demand, the AP1000 reactor power plant remains the most cost-effective technology, offering favourable economies of scale. However, modular units are characterised by shorter lead times and greater flexibility of application in different areas of the energy industry. Therefore, in the decarbonisation process, it is essential to develop both analysed technologies in parallel.

Intensive modernization and reconstruction of the energy sector takes place throughout the world. The EU climate and energy policy will have a huge impact on the development of the energy sector in the coming years. The European Union has adopted ambitious goals of transforming towards a...