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Economics and finance of Small Modular Reactors: A systematic review and research agenda

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  • Mignacca, B.
  • Locatelli, G.

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.

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  • Mignacca, B. & Locatelli, G., 2020. "Economics and finance of Small Modular Reactors: A systematic review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:118:y:2020:i:c:s1364032119307270
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.109519
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Thomas & M. V. Ramana, 2022. "A hopeless pursuit? National efforts to promote small modular nuclear reactors and revive nuclear power," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), July.
    2. Gan Huang & Chao Yang & Jichong Lei & Lingling Su & Zhenping Chen & Tao Yu, 2022. "Study on Fuel Selection for a Long-Life Small Lead-Based Reactor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Mignacca, Benito & Locatelli, Giorgio & Velenturf, Anne, 2020. "Modularisation as enabler of circular economy in energy infrastructure," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Qiu, Leilei & Liao, Shengyong & Fan, Sui & Sun, Peiwei & Wei, Xinyu, 2023. "Dynamic modelling and control system design of micro-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with helium brayton cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PB).
    5. Nian, Victor & Ghori, Amjad & Guerra, Eddie M. & Locatelli, Giorgio & Murphy, Paul, 2022. "Accelerating safe small modular reactor development in Southeast Asia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Erwan Hermawan & Usman Sudjadi, 2022. "Integrated Nuclear-Renewable Energy System for Industrialization in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia: Economic, Potential Site, and Policy Recommendation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 146-159, July.
    7. Haneklaus, Nils & Qvist, Staffan & Gładysz, Paweł & Bartela, Łukasz, 2023. "Why coal-fired power plants should get nuclear-ready," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    8. Wealer, B. & Bauer, S. & Hirschhausen, C.v. & Kemfert, C. & Göke, L., 2021. "Investing into third generation nuclear power plants - Review of recent trends and analysis of future investments using Monte Carlo Simulation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    9. Elaheh Shobeiri & Filippo Genco & Daniel Hoornweg & Akira Tokuhiro, 2023. "Small Modular Reactor Deployment and Obstacles to Be Overcome," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-19, April.
    10. Stewart, W.R. & Shirvan, K., 2022. "Capital cost estimation for advanced nuclear power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    11. Qu, Chunzi & Bang, Rasmus Noss, 2023. "Comparative Investment Analysis of Wind and Nuclear Energy: Assessing the Impact of Changes in the Electricity Mix and Required Government Support for Investment Parity," Discussion Papers 2023/8, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    12. Li, Zhen & Qi, Mingliang & Wang, Renlong & Yan, Xuesong & Yang, Yangyang & Gao, Mingang, 2024. "A novel cost analysis method for accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system (ADANES) considering uncertainty throughout the R&D cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    13. Okunlola, Ayodeji & Davis, Matthew & Kumar, Amit, 2023. "Assessing the cost competitiveness of electrolytic hydrogen production from small modular nuclear reactor-based power plants: A price-following perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    14. Steigerwald, Björn & Weibezahn, Jens & Slowik, Martin & von Hirschhausen, Christian, 2023. "Uncertainties in estimating production costs of future nuclear technologies: A model-based analysis of small modular reactors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    15. Liu, Yanyan & Huang, Guohe & Chen, Jiapei & Zhang, Xiaoyue & Zheng, Xiaogui & Zhai, Mengyu, 2022. "Development of an optimization-aided small modular reactor siting model – A case study of Saskatchewan, Canada," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    16. Mignacca, Benito & Locatelli, Giorgio & Sainati, Tristano, 2020. "Deeds not words: Barriers and remedies for Small Modular nuclear Reactors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    17. Luo, Bin & Huang, Guohe & Chen, Jiapei & Zhang, Xiaoyue & Zhao, Kai, 2021. "A chance-constrained small modular reactor siting model -- a case study for the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    18. Nian, Victor & Mignacca, Benito & Locatelli, Giorgio, 2022. "Policies toward net-zero: Benchmarking the economic competitiveness of nuclear against wind and solar energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    19. Kang, Seong Woo & Yim, Man-Sung, 2023. "Coupled system model analysis for a small modular reactor cogeneration (combined heat and power) application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    20. Carlo L. Vinoya & Aristotle T. Ubando & Alvin B. Culaba & Wei-Hsin Chen, 2023. "State-of-the-Art Review of Small Modular Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-30, April.
    21. Łukasz Bartela & Paweł Gładysz & Charalampos Andreades & Staffan Qvist & Janusz Zdeb, 2021. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Coal-Fired Power Unit Decarbonization Retrofit with KP-FHR Small Modular Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, April.
    22. Lai, Chun Sing & Locatelli, Giorgio, 2021. "Valuing the option to prototype: A case study with Generation Integrated Energy Storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    23. Christian von Hirschhausen, 2022. "Nuclear Power in the Twenty-first Century (Part II) - The Economic Value of Plutonium," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2011, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    24. Seyed Hadi Ghazaie & Khashayar Sadeghi & Ekaterina Sokolova & Evgeniy Fedorovich & Amirsaeed Shirani, 2020. "Comparative Analysis of Hybrid Desalination Technologies Powered by SMR," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, September.

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