Evaluation of multi-cycle physics and economics considering end cycle optimization for a PWR

Abstract Nowadays, license renewal of nuclear power plants is difficult due to the political, technical, and economical reasons, and the optimum end-cycle strategy has become an interesting and important research topic. In this paper, commercial cycle optimization strategies considering permanent shutdown have been studied for a Westinghouse Electric Company type PWR core. Both the conventional equilibrium reload cores and end-cycle cores for permanent shutdown are considered for comparison. Multi-cycle optimizations are mainly focused on the economics and neutronics analysis based on the commercial design criteria. In this work, all the neutronic designs and analyses are done with a licensed design code system. A new 18- and 24-month hybrid approach is also introduced to mitigate design challenges for equilibrium reload cores. For the end-cycle optimization, various representative operational scenarios and fuel management schemes have been devised and analyzed for multi-cycle optimizations. For each end-cycle operational scenario, detailed multi-cycle designs are performed and an annual total cost is evaluated to find the optimal one. In addition, a sensitivity study for the cost components are performed.