One of the relevant factors when increasing the competitiveness of water-cooled reactors is the introduction of accident-tolerant fuel to significantly reduce economic risks during NPP operation. The present study aims to develop a methodology for assessing the impact of this fuel on NPP competitiveness criteria. The main attention is paid to the assessment of the maximum permissible increase in production costs – the manufacture of fuel assemblies, ensuring the preservation or reduction of the fuel component in the cost of NPP electricity. A new condition for the competitiveness of accident-tolerant fuel, indicating the possibility of increasing the costs of its production by a half compared to the conventional fuel, was formulated.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 133, No. 5–6, pp. 309–316, November–December, 2022.
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Semenov, E.V., Kharitonov, V.V. Effects of Accident-Tolerant Nuclear Fuel on NPP Economic Parameters. At Energy 133, 331–338 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-023-01017-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-023-01017-z