Evaluation of Life Cycle CO 2 Emissions for the LDR-50 Nuclear District Heating Reactor

Laura Sokka, Heidi Kirppu and Jaakko Leppänen ()
Additional contact information
Laura Sokka: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Kivimiehentie 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Heidi Kirppu: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Kivimiehentie 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Jaakko Leppänen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Kivimiehentie 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: The LDR-50 low-temperature nuclear reactor is designed for the Finnish and European district heating markets, as an environmentally sustainable heating option for the 2030s. While the carbon footprint of conventional electricity-producing reactors is known to be small, there have been no comprehensive studies on the emission reduction potential when the technology is applied to the heating sector. This paper aims to fill this knowledge gap by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis. The carbon footprint of the LDR-50 heating plant is evaluated, and compared to conventional heating fuels, direct electric heating, and heat pumps. The results of the analysis show that the life cycle CO 2 emissions are low, although there are still significant uncertainties related to the construction phase, due to missing data. In addition to carbon footprint, the analysis is also extended to other adverse environmental impacts. It is concluded that significant reductions in CO 2 emissions can be achieved by replacing fossil heating fuels with nuclear energy. The technology is considered a viable option alongside biofuels and heat pumps. The overall environmental impacts are low, and the production does not compete for low-carbon electricity or scarce natural resources.

Keywords: carbon footprint; LCA; nuclear energy; district heating; LDR-50 reactor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/13/3250/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/13/3250/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:13:p:3250-:d:1427371

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().