Economic assesment of nuclear power plants and their application in Iran

The energy demands in Iran are increasing in proportion to its population and industrial growth. For the time being the principal source of energy is fossil fuels. Since the fossil fuels can also be converted to chemical and petrochemical products with very high added value; utilization of other energy sources have been considered world widely. In Iran with its vast geographic area, there are very diverse energy sources,other than fossil fuels, such as solar, geothermal, wind, tide, biogas, hydroelectric and nuclear energies, which can be chosen and used economically to save the valuable fossil fuels. among those, the renewable energy sources have limited capacity for use. The nuclear energy source, on the other hand,has a high potential with a different technology. Economic evaluation of different types of nuclear power plants was made and concluded that the heavy water reactors seems to have a better compatibility with the present scientific, technological and economical conditions of Iran