Investigating the Role of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plants (BNPPs) in Line with Achieving the Perspective of Sustainable Energy Development in Iran

In line with achieving the outlook of Sustainable Energy Development (SED), Iran intends to increase the share of clean power to at least 8% of the country’s capacity by the end of 2026. This research aims to investigate the role and share of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plants (BNPP-1, 2, 3) in achieving the SED perspective of Iran, which has never been examined so far. In this connection, the comparative analyses of various power plants (PPs) of Iran including nuclear, fossil fuel, biomass, wind, solar thermal, photovoltaic, geothermal, and hydro PPs are carried out and discussed. The main indicators of SED such as Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) metric, grid-level system cost, investment cost, external cost, average CO2 equivalent emission, ecosystem impact, required land area, required water, preservation of natural resources, human health, created jobs, international cooperation, social acceptance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and energy-water hub are thoroughly investigated. The statistical data used in the present study are extracted based on the authors’ experiences gained during the construction, operation and maintenance (O&M) of BNPP-1, the energy-environment balance sheets of Iran, as well as the design documents of BNPPs. Moreover, the gathered data are evaluated using MatLab programing language and analyzed in terms of comparative diagrams. The evaluations of BNPP-1 performance within the framework of SED indicate that BNPP-1 has little effect on ecosystems and is among the lowest greenhouse gases emitters compared to other Iran’s PPs so that it annually prevent the release of 0.7 million tonnes of carbon, SOx, and NOx compared to a gas-fired PP. Also, the cost analysis shows that the external cost of BNPP-1 is nearly zero and the grid-level cost is approximately 3 USD/(MW·h) which is much lower than that for renewable powers. As per the LCOE metric and the cost of fuel supply, BNPP-1 is cost-competitive with other Iran’s PPs. The nuclear fuel cost of BNPP-1 is nearly 49 million USD per year which is at least 666 million USD per year less than Iran’s fossil fuel power plants (FFPPs). As per the nuclear and radiation safety of BNPP-1, the results illustrate that the average dose received by the residents living around the BNPP-1 is 2×10−4 mSv/year that is 10 000 times smaller than the average natural background radiation. Within the past ten years of BNPP-1 operation, no increase in cancers or death of skilled workers and residents living around the BNPP-1 has been reported. In addition to the production of clean power and freshwater, BNPP-1 has been developing excellent international relations and has been creating high-paying jobs, in particular for the local societies. Consequently, BNPP-1 could minimize the socio-economic and environmental concerns compared to the other Iran’s PPs, and therefore, BNPPs may play a vital and key role towards achieving the SED outlook of Iran through producing clean, reasonably-priced, environmentally friendly, reliable, and sustainable power and freshwater. Accordingly, Iran is to substitute nuclear power with more portions of the FFPPs in line with the sustainable development goals.