Review of Cost Reduction Measures for Nuclear Electricity

Abstract

The cost of nuclear electricity is strongly dependent on the life-cycle cost of the nuclear power plant itself and of the nuclear fuel cycle. At present, the cost visibility at the frontend of the power plant construction and operation as well as the nuclear fuel is satisfactory and the lessons learned from past good and bad experiences are known. However, this is not the case for the last phase of the life cycle, i.e. decommissioning and waste disposal. Since the investments for the last phase are of the same order of magnitude as the investments needed at the front-end, the duration of the operational life of a nuclear power plant is of paramount importance. This paper presents the implication of the long-life plant approach to the design of a nuclear power plant and to the cost reduction for nuclear electricity.