Nuclear reactor strategies

Reference is made to a linear programming model considered by Hafele and Manne ('Strategies for a Transition from Fossil to Nuclear Fuels'. 11ASA Research Report RR-74-7) in which the sum of discounted costs of meeting demand for electrical and non-electrical energy over a horizon of 75 years divided into 25 periods of 3 years is minimised subject to constraints, inter alia, on the total availability of fossil fuel and low cost ($15/lb) natural uranium. The sensitivity of the Hafele-Manne results are explored with respect to changes in some crucial parameters and assumptions namely; variation in discount rate, variation in current costs of operation of HTRB, variation in costs and availability of natural uranium, market penetration constraints, changing capital costs, price responsive demands, petroleum prices, and minimisation of PETG consumption with constraints on the sum of discounted costs. (U.K.)