TY - GEN
T1 - ANALYSIS OF COSTS, BENEFITS, AND IMPLICATIONS OF PATHWAYS IN CAPTURING THE VALUE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY
T2 - 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE 2023
AU - Cho, So Bin
AU - Allen, Todd
AU - Epiney, Aaron
AU - Sun, Xiaodong
AU - Talbot, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was performed using funding received from the Battelle Energy Alliance/Idaho National Laboratory. Significant computing resources of the High-Performance Computing Center at the Idaho National Laboratory were provided, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy and the Nuclear Science User Facilities under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517. The authors would like to thank Dr. Shannon Bragg-Sitton of the Idaho National Laboratory for advice in defining the technical scope of this research.. We thank Andrew W. Foss of the INL for constructive comments on this paper that helped us strengthen the economic analysis and discussion herein. We also gratefully acknowledge Dr. Michael T. Craig of the University of Michigan for his advice and support in simulating the wind power generation from NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data.
Funding Information:
This work was performed using funding received from the Battelle Energy Alliance/Idaho National Laborator. Syignificant computing resources of the High-Performance Computing Center at the Idaho National Laboratory were provided, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the Nuclear Science User Facilities under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517. The authors would like to thank Dr. Shannon Bragg-Sitton of the Idaho National Laboratory for advice in defining the technical scope of this research. . We thank Andrew W. Foss of the INL for constructive comments on this paper that helped us strengthen the economic analysis and discussion herein. We also gratefully acknowledge Dr. Michael T. Craig of the University of Michigan for his advice and support in simulating the wind power generation from NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by JSME.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Decarbonizing electricity primarily from wind and solar resources will likely require other low- or no-carbon alternatives to reliably meet electricity demands. This paper examines the competitiveness of two nuclear energy technologies, large Light Water Reactors (LWRs) and LWR-type Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) under a variety of plausible future scenarios. Furthermore, this paper suggests where nuclear energy should be operated and what performance characteristics make nuclear energy economically viable in locations with extensive additions of intermittent energy sources. Through 24 cases, our modeling of the least-cost grid systems highlights the potential of LWR-thermal energy storage coupling and SMRs in making deep decarbonization technically feasible and affordable. Focusing on the seasonal variations in balancing electricity supply and demand, we also capture their widely varying performance along with costs and grid constraints. The implications of our modeling findings can provide tailored design space for future technology investment decisions.
AB - Decarbonizing electricity primarily from wind and solar resources will likely require other low- or no-carbon alternatives to reliably meet electricity demands. This paper examines the competitiveness of two nuclear energy technologies, large Light Water Reactors (LWRs) and LWR-type Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) under a variety of plausible future scenarios. Furthermore, this paper suggests where nuclear energy should be operated and what performance characteristics make nuclear energy economically viable in locations with extensive additions of intermittent energy sources. Through 24 cases, our modeling of the least-cost grid systems highlights the potential of LWR-thermal energy storage coupling and SMRs in making deep decarbonization technically feasible and affordable. Focusing on the seasonal variations in balancing electricity supply and demand, we also capture their widely varying performance along with costs and grid constraints. The implications of our modeling findings can provide tailored design space for future technology investment decisions.
KW - Advanced nuclear reactor
KW - Grid planning
KW - Integrated energy systems
KW - Nuclear energy
KW - Power systems
KW - Storage
KW - Variable renewable energy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178507065&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85178507065
SN - 9784888982566
T3 - International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Proceedings, ICONE
BT - Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering "Nuclear, Thermal, and Renewables
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Y2 - 21 May 2023 through 26 May 2023
ER -