168 8.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
The c o s t of electric power i s commonly resolved i n t o t h r e e components: The f u e l c o s t , t h e fixed charges, and operation and maintenance expense.
8,1
Fuel Cost
As shown i n Sec. 6, t h e f u e l cycle cost i n t h e MSCR ranges from 2 mills/kwhr (electrical) down t o 0.7 depending on t h e conversion r a t i o
desired and t h e method and/or c o s t of processing assumed.
For present pur-
poses, t h e minimum c o s t associated with t h e reference design r e a c t o r summar i z e d i n Table 6.6 was s e l e c t e d as representative,
This r e a c t o r is "near-
term" and predicated on t h e scale-up of current technology with t h e exception of t h e moderator graphite, which was an order of magnitude b e t t e r than c u r r e n t l y available. graphite i n respect t o porosity and permeability. The f u e l cycle c o s t , using Fluoride V o l a t i l i t y processing i n a central
p l a n t with discard of carrier salt and contained thorium and recycle o f isotopes of uranium, was reported i n Sec. 6.7,l.
Table 8.1 1000 Mwe Molten S a l t Converter ,.Reactor Fuel Cycle Cost
Item
Mills/kwhr ~~
Inventories Fertile Fissile Salt
0.03 0.23 0.06
Replacement Fertile F i s s i l e (95% 235U) Salt Reprocessing Total, mills/kwhr
0,04 0.16 O,O8 0.08
0.32
-
0.28
0.08
0.68