Fuel cycle implications of deploying HTGRS in hybrid energy systems as reserve power generation in Ontario

Nuclear power plants could potentially be deployed in a type of nuclear hybrid energy system (NHES) in which their power is used primarily to drive an industrial process but can be diverted to meet demands for electricity when needed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of deploying NHESs as reserve power for the transmission grid in Ontario on the overall Canadian fuel cycle. In this scenario, the fuel cycle demands of 2 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) concepts are analyzed with respect to costs, resource consumption, and enrichment requirements. One HTGR concept is a 30 MW-thermal (^MWth) reactor that is based on the UBattery concept, and the other is the Xe-100, which is a 200 ^MWth reactor. Calculations indicate that such a deployment of HTGRs would have a substantial effect on the fuel cycle in Canada. In particular, NU and enrichment demands would be greatly affected. Beginning this HTGR deployment in the year 2030 would more than double the annual NU demands in Canada, and deplete the uranium resources with extraction costs of <$80/kgU by the year 2142. The uranium enrichment demands of this fleet would be >35% of the US capacity for uranium enrichment. (author)