Cost-benefit analysis of BeO-UO2 nuclear fuel

This paper provides the results of a cost-benefit analysis for BeO-UO ₂ nuclear fuel, material that contains a small volume fraction of Be in uranium oxide matrix. According to the cost-benefit analysis results, the optimized BeO content was about 4.8 wt% when the BeO and uranium oxide prices were assumed to be $317/kg and $64/kg, respectively. The benefit of increasing the thermal conductivity of BeO-UO₂ fuel was greater than the burden of the expensive BeO material price if the BeO content was 4.8 wt%. In addition, the break-even point of the nuclear fuel cycle cost as a function of the burn-up was 4.4 mills/kWh when compared economically between BeO-UO₂ fuel and UO₂ fuel. Therefore, BeO-UO₂ fuel seems economically efficient when the burn-up is more than 60 MWD/kg because the nuclear fuel cycle cost of BeO-UO₂ fuel was lower than that of UO₂ fuel. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.