Mignacca, B and Locatelli, G orcid.org/0000-0001-9986-2249 (2020) Economics and finance of Small Modular Reactors: A systematic review and research agenda. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 118. 109519. ISSN 1364-0321
Abstract
The interest toward Small Modular nuclear Reactors (SMRs) is growing, and the economic competitiveness of SMRs versus large reactors is a key topic. Leveraging a systematic literature review, this paper firstly provides an overview of “what we know” and “what we do not know” about the economics and finance of SMRs. Secondly, the paper develops a research agenda. Several documents discuss the economics of SMRs, highlighting how the size is not the only factor to consider in the comparison; remarkably, other factors (co-siting economies, modularisation, modularity, construction time, etc.) are relevant. The vast majority of the literature focuses on economic and financial performance indicators (e.g. Levelized Cost of Electricity, Net Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return) and SMR capital cost. Remarkably, very few documents deal with operating and decommissioning costs or take a programme (and its financing) rather than a “single project/plant/site” perspective. Furthermore, there is a gap in knowledge about the cost-benefit analysis of the “modular construction” and SMR decommissioning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Small modular reactor; SMR; Economics; Finance; Modularisation; Modularity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Oct 2019 10:28 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.rser.2019.109519 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152603 |