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On his return from COP27, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has told the Agency’s Board of Governors: “At a time of great uncertainty about whether the world can keep global warming to limits that avert the worst consequences of climate change, the IAEA cooperatively is offering solutions and ways to progress.”

Source: NEI Magazine
Date: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnuclear-industry-promises-action-in-the-wake-of-cop27-10376566

New report highlights current opportunities for progress in commercialisation of the technology The UK has shortlisted five sites as the potential future home of the country’s first prototype fusion energy plant. Courtesy UKAEA. Capital costs for the development of a new generation of nuclear fusion reactors are high at around £100/MWh, but a substantial programme of standard build could bring them down to a viable target of £60-£70/MWh, a report published by engineering group Assystem says.

According to the report, which examines the potential for fusion in the UK, the government has estimated the 2040 levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) for the UK for standalone offshore wind, onshore wind and large-scale solar of £40/MWh, £44/MWh and £33/MWh respectively.

The £60-£70/MWh cost for fusion “provides the first target for nuclear fusion to be economically competitive”, the report concludes. It says fusion is uncompetitive today with other low-carbon options available in the UK – including wind and light-water nuclear fission reactors. The reason for this is the combination of a relatively high construction cost (£5,887/kWe) and a low capacity factor (56%).

The International Energy Agency has put the LCOE for advanced nuclear at $63/MWh (about £45/MWh).

With an improved, large fusion design the construction cost decreases to £4,135/kWe and the capacity factor to 75%. These two effects improve the fusion economics, decreasing the LCOE into the range £60 to £97/MWh. For a small fusion design, the energy cost of 75 units is in the region of £69- £99/MWh – a range that is comparable to 10 units of large fusion reactors and also the energy cost of LWR fission reactors.

Source: Nucnet
Date: Saturday, 23 October 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/capital-costs-are-high-but-can-be-reduced-to-economically-competitive-level-10-4-2021

With Australia moving to decarbonise, it is time to seriously consider a role for advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs), the head of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) said today.

Source: World Nuclear News
Date: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/SMRs-ideal-fit-for-Australian-market-report-finds