AN ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT OF THE UNITED-STATES MHTGR DESIGN

Through GCRA, U.S. utility/users have established the following economic goal for the U.S. MHTGR reference plant design: "A goal shall be the development of a design that has an evaluated economic advantage of at least 10% in the 30 year levelized busbar cost of electricity relative to a comparable sized, state-of-the-art coal fired plant while requiring equivalent institutional resources and posing equivalent financial risks." The term "equivalent institutional resources" means that approximately the same level of qualified personnel and organizational capability, functioning within similar corporate cultures, is required to successfully procure, license, operate, maintain and decommission the plants. The term "equivalent financial risks" means that approximately the same level of uncertainty exists for receiving an adequate return on investment, such that investors will be equally likely to invest in the MHTGR or coal plants. The intent of this economic goal is to guide the development of the MHTGR such that prospective owners would view the MHTGR as an attractive nuclear option that is competitive, and which affords ownership risks and returns that are on par with coal plant alternatives. This paper presents a summary of the background, approach, and the current estimate for the U.S. reference MHTGR electric generating plant. The plant is composed of two power building blocks producing a total output of 538 MW(e). Each building block consists of two reactor modules and one turbine-generator set. Additional economic results are given for a cogeneration application with a seawater desalination plant.