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

B. Mignacca and G. Locatelli

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2020, vol. 118, issue C

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.

Keywords: Small modular reactor; SMR; Economics; Finance; Modularisation; Modularity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119307270
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:118:y:2020:i:c:s1364032119307270

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.109519

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().