Economic analysis of the UK nuclear energy system from 1956 to 2035

• Autor(a) principal: Carlos Eduardo Velasquez Cabrera
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Fidéllis Bitencourt Gonzaga Louzada e Estanislau, Claubia Pereira Bezerra Lima, Maria Auxiliadora Fortini Veloso, Antonella Lombardi Costa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo de conferência
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/56945; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2960-3150; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8617-9413; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5999-9961; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8618-8195; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2445-3800
• topic: Nuclear energy; United Kingdom of Great Britain (UK); Message; Energia nuclear - Reino Unido; Reatores nucleares; Combustíveis para reatores nucleares

One of the most important topics about nuclear programs is the economic development of their nuclear energy system. One of the most remarkable programs was the UK’s nuclear energy systems. Their first commercial nuclear power reactor connected to the grid was the Calder Hall -1 at Seascale in 1956. After that, 45 reactors built until 1995 for electricity production. Currently, 30 of them are permanently shutdown and 15, which comprises around 19% of the UK energy matrix are still operational. Despite the last reactor built in 1995 was a PWR - SIZEWELL-B connected to the grid 23 years ago, the UK government plans to build new generation plants to supply 19 GWe until 2025 and aims to have additional 16 GWe until 2023. This work shows the economic needs of the UK’s nuclear program to continue with their nuclear program. The software MESSAGE was used in the analysis taking into consideration the uranium spot price during the time. The results indicate the government investment needed to replace most of their current fleet with a new reactor fleet by 2025. This work also evaluates the economy of the nuclear fuel cycle comprising: mining price, fuel fabrication, the amount of nuclear waste produced by the nuclear reactor activity, the uranium ore needed to supply the reactor transition from old AGR to new generation of nuclear reactors, and spent fuel produced due to the nuclear activity until 2035.