Finnish energy company Fortum has collaborated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to launch a Nuclear Cost Estimation Tool (NCET) that enables more precise cost estimation and risk assessment of new small modular reactor (SMR) projects.

The open-source version of the tool is now publicly available, and its customized application is now beingIllustration of an SMR concept. Source: Fortum used by Fortum. The NCET aims to benefit all who work in the nuclear industry, specifically supporting the accurate evaluation of costs for SMR projects and providing valuable information to back up investment decisions.

“SMR’s have the potential to reduce the risk to cost overruns by leveraging their smaller and simpler designs. However, reducing risk alone is not enough and they must still provide competitive cost to meet market demands. We hope to explore this relationship between risk and cost within our multidisciplinary team,” said Koroush Shirvan, the principal investigator from MIT.