Assessment of target markets for deployment of modular HTGRs

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Industry Alliance (NIA) consists of 16 companies and organizations that support development and deployment of modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (modular HTGRs or MHRs). These companies include reactor vendors, utilities, potential industrial end users of MHR process steam/heat, nuclear graphite vendors, and companies with design, technology development, regulatory licensing, and other HTGR subject matter expertise. The NIA has been investigating potential markets for MHRs in both North America and globally as part of its business plan development. MHRs have inherent, melt-down proof safety with high-temperature capability and high utilization of the nuclear heat for production of electricity and process heat. These features allow MHRs to be located within close proximity to the public and industrial end users, and in locations with very limited or no availability of cooling water as the ultimate heat sink. This paper provides a summary of recent NIA target market assessments, including selected markets which currently utilize high value oil and expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuels for process heat and electricity generation on a large scale (e.g., Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Korea). Results show that significant markets exist today for economical deployment of steam-cycle MHRs for electricity and process heat, especially in countries/regions that utilize expensive (or heavily subsidized) fossil fuels for energy needs. Low natural gas prices in North America presently inhibit expansion of any nuclear technology, but MHRs should be economically competitive by the 2030 - 2040 time frame, when natural gas prices are projected to be in the $7 to $10 per MMBtu price range. There is also good market potential for higher temperature MHR applications, including nuclear steel manufacturing, production of synthetic fuels, and hydrogen production. (author)