Nuclear in a broader energy context - Transition issues and results - 15323

The Fuel Cycle Options (FCO) Campaign is conducting an assessment of the transition from the current once-through light water reactor (LWR) fuel cycle to the most promising fuel cycle options identified in the recently completed Evaluation and Screening of Fuel Cycle Options performed for the U.S. DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. A MARKAL model of the U.S. energy system was used to inform on realistic boundary conditions for a transition from current to future nuclear fleets. Nuclear technologies added to the model were characterized by cost data generated by the FCO campaign. Analysis was performed for two cases: an LWR-to- LWR transition and a LWR-to-sodium fast reactor (SFR) transition, under 'high' and 'low' cost assumptions. The results showed a decline of nuclear power generation to the benefit of fossil fuel technologies for the models not implementing a carbon tax. For the carbon tax models of the LWR-to-SFR transition, the system was driven by fuel availability. (authors)