Revenue Requirements Method for Assessing the Cost Impact of Fuel Cladding Corrosion in a Supercritical Water-Cooled Small Modular Reactor: A Methodological Review on Life Cycle Costing Corrosion

Abstract

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is collaborating in the Joint European Canadian Chinese Development of Small Modular Reactor Technology (ECC-SMART) project to understand the corrosion behavior of the most promising candidate materials for a future supercritical water cooled - small modular reactor (SCW-SMR). To support this aim and the project's requirements, the present study develops a costing method for assessing the impact of corrosion in a power generation cost model. This cost model builds on a methodological study of various corrosion engineering economics topics in nuclear power generation, such as the expected fuel cladding corrosion phenomena in an SCWR concept and estimating the main corrosion costs categories. This understanding is incorporated in a power generation cost model that applies the revenue requirements approach to life cycle costing (LCC). The LCC includes the main corrosion cost categories and a reliability factor used in assessing power generation costs, the costing of chemical species for controlling corrosion, and the present worth of revenue requirements. The method and model, therefore, provide a framework for understanding the kind of information available and needed for taking economical preventative corrosion measures for the current generation of water-cooled reactors and advanced reactors, such as the SCWR.