Conceptual design and preliminary performance analysis of a hybrid nuclear-solar power system with molten-salt packed-bed thermal energy storage for on-demand power supply

•Proposes a conceptual design of a hybrid nuclear-solar power system for power supply.•Describes a parallel thermal integration of SMRs with molten-salt CSP tower plants.•Develops a numerical model to investigate the performance of the hybrid system.•Conducts a parametric study on key performances of the hybrid system.•Identifies optimum system configurations for specified operating conditions.