It was found that some cost data are available for most of the SMRs addressed in this study. In most of the cases the designers’ evaluations of costs correspond to the period after the year 2000. The designers’ data on Levelised Unit Electricity Cost (LUEC) of SMRs was compared to the projected costs of generating electricity by nuclear power plants in relevant countries in 2010 [10.1].

The conclusions regarding the designers’ cost data for SMRs are as follows:

• The generating cost (LUEC) for some very small (well under 100 MWe) nuclear power plants intended for distributed deployment exceeds the median case projection of the cost of generating electricity by nuclear power plants roughly by a factor of two.

• For all other SMRs the designers’ evaluations of generating cost appear to be close to, or below the median case projection.

• On a country-by-country level, the designers’ evaluations of generating costs are in many cases higher than the projected costs of generating electricity by large nuclear power plants in the countries where SMRs are designed.

The available cost data indicate that the designers of advanced SMRs generally intend to compete with larger nuclear power plants. The exceptions are very small (below 100 MWe) NPPs that are being designed for distributed deployment in remote off-grid locations where the electricity costs could be much higher compared to the areas with common electricity grids.