A Comparison of CANDU and PWR Fuelling Costs.

Abstract

Using a consistent method and uniform economic parameters, we have compared the fuel cycle costs of a 915 MW PWR and a 850 MW CANDU.

Over the 30-year reactor life from 1990 to 2020, the fuelling cost is estimated at 27.7 mills/kWh for the PWR and 16.5 mills/kWh for the CANDU, with the ratio being about 1.7.

Varying the predicted prices of uranium and enrichment separately does not alter the relative position of PWR and CANDU very much. The PWR/CANDU fuel cost ratio remains n the range between 1.6 and 1.8.

Higher uranium or fabrication prices would result in a lower fuel cost ratio, while higher enrichment price would have the opposite effect. Therefore, the cost ratio is not too sensitive to escalations over the reactor life. As a first approximation, the ratio would remain around 1.7 if the prices are all higher (or lower) than projected.

Based on fuel cost constituting about 30% of CANDU's TUEC and the PWR fuel cost being about 70% higher than that of CANDU, we deduce that a PWR can match CANDU in the TUEC only if it offers a substantial capital cost advantage (in the order of 20% of CANDU's TUEC).

CANDU utilising slightly enriched fuel would promise even greater advantage in the fuel economics and uranium conservation than current CANDU relative to PWR.