Multi-criteria decision model for selection of nuclear power plant type

Abstract

Interests in clean energy revived the nuclear power industry. For the first time in decades, new technologies and plant designs are being considered by regulatory agencies. This shift in both public opinion and regulatory requirements opens opportunities for decision-makers and calls for a decision-making tool to help determine a feasible nuclear power plant (NPP) type. This paper contributes to academic literature by presenting an Analytic Hierarchy Process model to address the problem of selecting a feasible NPP type for construction. A holistic approach is taken, considering high level criteria in the categories of economic, operational, and risk concerns. Subject Matter Expert inputs to the pairwise comparison of priorities and criteria selection aided the analysis. Results show that the traditional NPP designs are closely followed in preference by a newer Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. From this analysis, several areas of expansion and future work were identified, in hopes of growing the decision-making studies in NPP selection and including more holistic approaches when considering the best NPP type for new construction.