Techno-economic analysis and dynamic performance evaluation of an integrated green concept based on concentrating solar power and a transportable heat pipe-cooled nuclear reactor

The nuclear-solar hybrid system (NSHS) is regarded as a promising solution to meet the growing energy requirements of remote areas. Currently, design schemes and parametric analyses for small-scale application scenarios are still limited. This study has proposed an innovative transportable micro heat-pipe cooled nuclear reactor (HPR) coupled with a concentrating solar power (CSP) system to achieve flexible load regulation. First, a dynamic simulation model for the NSHS is established in the Simulink platform, considering turbomachine off-design characteristics and the power-load matching dispatch principle. Then, techno-economic analyses are carried out to explore the exergy and capital cost flow processes. The results reveal that the NSHS shows clear seasonal features with the highest load cover rate of 98.31% in summer and the lowest of 73.82% in winter. The total exergy effectiveness of the NSHS is 29.4%, with an average electricity cover ratio of 88.67% and a solar energy penetration ratio of 13.32%. The calculated LCOE is 80.84 $/MWh, and the payback period is 3.62 years. The life cycle emission of the system is assessed as 10.23 g CO2 eq./kWh. Compared with the solar standalone system, the hybrid system with higher efficiency faces challenges in high-temperature resistance and thermal insulation.