DANESS – Technical-Economic Scenario Projection

DANESS (Dynamic Analysis of Nuclear Energy System Strategies) is Nuclear-21’s primary technical-economic scenarios assessment tool. Starting from a reference year with a known nuclear energy system, DANESS projects the impacts of current and future policy, strategy, regulatory and other decisions and factors onto the development of nuclear energy systems. 

At the utility, country, region and world levels, DANESS projects scenarios of nuclear power plant market prospects, fuel cycle services markets, nuclear materials inventories and mass flows, and the technical-economic performance of nuclear energy system options. DANESS may be used by governments, utilities, investors, waste management and R&D-organisations and nuclear energy consultants, to:

  • Investigate options in nuclear energy systems deployment, e.g. comparison between reactor types and fuel cycle options;
  • Perform technical-economic assessments of nuclear energy system options, e.g. investment analysis;
  • Compare analysis of nuclear fuel cycle and waste management options, e.g. dry interim storage versus wet interim storage versus recycling of spent fuels;
  • Investigating the impact of technology developments on the overall sustainability or performance of nuclear energy systems.

DANESS provides:

  • Validated projections of the complete dynamic mass-flow/inventory analysis for time-evolving nuclear energy systems
  • A library of nuclear energy scenarios, nuclear technology design data and overall system options
  • Projections of technical and economic performance with detailed NPP-level and facility-level cash-flow analysis
  • Net Present Value/Discounted Cash Flow and Levelised Cost of Electricity calculations on nuclear power plant/fuel cycle facility level

DANESS allows users to assess time-varying nuclear energy systems, in view of:

  • performing technical-economic analysis of time-varying nuclear energy systems being it on global, regional, country or utility level;
  • full detailed mass-flow analysis from uranium/thorium-mining up to ultimate waste disposal, for multiple reactor types and fuel cycles in parallel, with full detail on mass-flows and inventories in all fuel cycle steps;
  • detailed mass-flow analysis per fuel cycle facility, reactor and fuel type including primary and secondary waste flows;
  • optional flowsheet models per fuel cycle facility type;
  • level of detail ranging from one nuclear reactor over its entire life cycle up to a global, time-varying nuclear reactor fleet including multiple reactor types and fuel cycles with cross-flow of fissile materials between the reactors and fuel cycles;

DANESS performs comparative assessment of intra-nuclear energy system options, e.g.:

  • comparison between nuclear reactor systems and their fuel cycle;
  • comparison of various nuclear fuel cycle options;
  • comparison of various ultimate waste management options;
  • fuel cycle optimisation with respect to a variety of objective functions;
  • performing cash-flow analysis and investment analysis on nuclear reactor and fuel cycle facilities;
  • multi-regional, multi-country and/or multi-utility simulations;
  • databases with validated reactor, fuel and fuel cycle facility characteristics;

DANESS goes hand-in-hand with NucInfo, Nuclear-21’s database of the current and historic evolution of nuclear energy systems on global, regional, country, utility or event the reactor-specific level. It provides technical-economic parameters for the reactor, fuel and fuel cycle options today and for the future.