Economics and finance of lead fast reactors: A systematic literature review

Generation IV (Gen-IV) nuclear reactor designs are receiving increasing attention because of their potential to achieve key goals in terms of sustainability, safety, reliability, and economics. One of the six technologies selected in the Gen-IV program is the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR). This work focuses on LFRs, examining both pure lead and lead-bismuth eutectic designs. Through two systematic literature reviews, we consolidate the state-of-the-art in economics and finance for LFRs. The first review considers scientific literature and retrieves 12 articles. The second focuses instead on industrial literature, resulting in 12 additional documents. Economics literature is very scarce and sometimes of low quality. Economic estimations for the specific capital cost [$/kWe] and the cost of electricity [$/MWh] can vary by an order of magnitude (1500–25000 $/kWe and 30–350 $/MWh, respectively), while design organizations typically do not publicly share financial details. Finance literature is almost nonexistent. We report, in the final part of the work, notable knowledge gaps and further possible research areas.