Efficiency improvement of nuclear power plant operation: the significant role of advanced nuclear fuel technologies

Deregulation efforts in the energy markets have placed electricity generation in all power plants under considerable pressure of costs. This also applies to the operation of nuclear power plants. Advanced technologies of nuclear fuel management and nuclear fuel technology can play an important role in decreasing nuclear fuel cycle costs and, in this way, improving the cost efficiency of plant operation. One key factor is the utilization of the nuclear fuel proper. At Siemens Nuclear Power, nuclear fuel development is carried out consistently for these objectives: (i) further increase in discharge burnup; (ii) further improvement in reliability of fuel elements in operation; (iii) expanding the limits of operating loads of fuel elements; (iv) further development and optimization of fuel element design and ongoing reactor core calculation. As a result of this work, fuel cycle costs were reduced in past decades by some US-$ 35 million per annum by the use of advanced fuel elements for a typical light water reactor of approx. 1300 MW electric power. Further increases in the target burnup of fuel are expected again to decrease costs to the tune of US-$ 10 to 15 million annually. As a consequence of the loads and stresses acting upon the materials used associated with higher burnups and other measures, specific optimization measures must be introduced step by step. This will be done in close cooperation among fuel suppliers and nuclear power plant operators. (orig.)