The consequences of high SMR operating costs in electricity markets

As US power markets contend with growing demand for firm generation, the nuclear industry has offered Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). However, how these concepts would fare in a rapidly evolving power grid is unclear, given the paucity of operational examples. Current literature, informed by substantial cost escalations for traditional nuclear plants, focuses on the investment costs SMRs need to achieve for private investment feasibility. However, this work finds that the operating and marginal costs of SMRs are more critical to economic feasibility in market environments. This work dispatches SMRs using a flexible operations model, considering revenue from two main electric markets, capacity and wholesale energy markets, with and without policy support. Manufacturer advertised costs for investment and operating costs are used, with fuel costs calculated from manufacturer provided design parameters. Results indicate that SMRs are uneconomical primarily because investment cost reductions are offset by increased marginal costs. As such, an environment of prices and subsidies beyond historic norms are necessary to attract private investment at manufacturer advertised cost benchmarks. Current SMRs are as profitable as advanced estimates of the AP1000 traditional nuclear reactor, and if investment costs escalate at the average rate for nuclear projects, they are similar to Vogtle 3 & 4. In projected future power markets, reductions in marginal cost may be more beneficial than those in investment costs.