WISE integrates reactor deployment scenarios, Cyclus/DYMOND fuel cycle simulations, ACCERT reactor overnight capital cost (OCC) estimates, and fuel cycle cost data to calculate time-dependent facility deployments, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, OCCs, learning effects, and levelized costs. Five scenarios representing alternative once-through and recycling strategies were evaluated, each with its own reactor deployment mix. Results show that reactor OCC dominates total undiscounted system cost, while fuel cycle assumptions, such as facility scale and learning, can substantially affect O&M costs and non-reactor OCC and their contributions to total system costs. Recent WISE enhancements improve its ability to assess the economic implications of alternative reactor deployment and fuel cycle strategies and identify key areas for future refinement.
Dynamic Cost Modeling and Analysis
This work applies the Python-based Workflow for Integrated Simulation and Economics (WISE) to evaluate the dynamic fuel cycle costs of rapidly expanding U.S. nuclear capacity to approximately 400 GWe by 2050, consistent with recent executive orders.