It is the economics of any power plant which determines if the plant will be built and operated in the end. Comparison of cost structures for different base load and renewable energy sources underlines the specifics of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The corresponding sensitivity analyses identifies the main cost drivers and explains why and how the electricity supply function can develop in time and matches the changing electricity demand. Variable cost of NPPs is specific in many ways, most of them linked to the nuclear fuel cycle, namely to uranium supply and enrichment. The lecture will focus on general principles and should be complementary to nuclear engineering curriculum.
Dr. Radek Skoda received his M.Sc. in Experimental Particle Physics from the University of
Bergen in Norway and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Czech Technical University. Before that he had also obtained B.S. and M.Sc. in finance and M.Sc. in nuclear engineering.
In his career, Radek initially focused on financial risk management for Dublin and London based investment banks, followed by work in the Department of Nuclear Reactor of the Czech Technical University in Prague; now he is spending his sabbatical year at Texas A&M University. He developed experimental nuclear reactor courses for several reactors and lectures topics
related to NPP fuel cycle and economics.
