The FuTure oF nuclear Fuel cycle - MIT Energy Initiative

Figure 7.1 lCoes for alternative Cycles, by Component
OTC TTC FRR
110
100
FR, gross
90
lWr-1
lWr-2
LWR
FR, net
80
lcoe (mill/kWh)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-20
capital
o&M
Back-end Fuel
Front-end Fuel
Source: 4858 uS/aec. 69-36 nuevco eV, 87-Present uv u308v
notes: The graph displays the lcoe figures from Tables 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4. The first bar shows the lcoe, by component, for the once-
Through cycle. The second and third bars show the two lcoes for the Twice-Through cycle: the left-hand bar is the lcoe for the first
pass reactor, while the right-hand bar is the lcoe for the second pass reactor. The fourth, fifth and sixth bars show the lcoes for the
Fast reactor recycle: the left-hand bar is the lcoe for the light water reactor, while the center and right-hand bar show the lcoe for
a fast reactor. The total fuel cycle cost for the fast reactor is negative, so that the total lcoe is less than the sum of the reactor capital
and o&M costs. The center bar shows the total or net cost. The right-hand bar shows each cost component, with the capital, o&M
and back-end fuel cycle costs being positive and the front-end fuel cycle cost being negative.
a 3% increase in cost. The small size of this difference shows up even more clearly in the
graphical display of the costs in Figure 7.1. Thus, if a given cycle has important non-economic
advantages, then these can be purchased at a reasonable cost.
The cost increase is small because fuel cycle costs are a small part of the overall total cost of
electricity. The incremental cost compared to just the fuel cycle costs of the Once-Through
Cycle—front- and back-end—would represent a 33% increase. Compared to just the backend
of the fuel cycle costs of the Once-Through Cycle, the incremental cost would represent
a 212% increase.
The importance of the cost of reprocessing shows up clearly in a comparison of Tables 7.2
and 7.3. In the Once-Through Cycle, the cost of disposal of the spent UOX fuel is 1.30 mill/
kWh. If, instead, the fuel is to be recycled, the cost of reprocessing is already 2.36 mill/
kWh. This is before accounting for the cost of disposing of the separated high level waste
and the credits or charges for the separated uranium and plutonium. This is almost double
the cost of direct disposal. It is easy to see that it would be hard for this cost difference to be
made up for by the savings on raw uranium needed for the second reactor: the total cost of
uranium for fresh UOX is only 2.76 mill/kWh. On top of this, the cost of fabricating MOX
fuel are much, much higher than the cost of fabricating fresh UOX fuel. Finally, the much
chapter 7: economics 107