NESC9449 LPGC

1. NAME OR DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM:  LPGC

3. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM OR FUNCTION

LPGC is a set of nine microcomputer programs for estimating power generation costs for large steam-electric power plants. These programs permit rapid evaluation using various sets of economic and technical ground rules. The levelized power generation costs calculated may be used to compare the relative economics of nuclear and coal-fired plants based on life-cycle costs. Cost calculations include capital investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, fuel cycle cost, decommissioning cost, and total levelized power generation cost. These programs can be used for quick analyses of power generation costs using alternative economic parameters, such as interest rate,  escalation rate, inflation rate, plant lead times, capacity factor,  fuel prices, etc. The two major types of electric generating plants  considered are pressurized-water reactor (PWR) and pulverized coal-fired plants. Data are also provided for the Large Scale Prototype Breeder (LSPB) type liquid metal reactor. Costs for plant  having either one or two units may be obtained.

4. METHOD OF SOLUTION

LPGC consists of nine individual menu-driven programs controlled by a driver program, MAINPWR. The individual programs are PLANTCAP, for calculating capital investment costs; NUCLOM, for determining operation and maintenance (O&M) costs for nuclear plants; COALOM, for computing O&M costs for coal-fired plants; NFUEL, for calculating levelized fuel costs for nuclear plants; COALCOST, for determining levelized fuel costs for coal-fired plants; FCRATE, for computing the fixed charge rate on the capital investment; LEVEL, for calculating levelized power generation costs; CAPITAL, for determining capitalized cost from overnight cost; and MASSGEN, for generating, deleting, or changing fuel cycle mass balance data for use with NFUEL.
LPGC has three modes of operation. In the first, each individual code can be executed independently to determine one aspect of the total levelized power cost, such as fuel or O&M cost.  In the second, the integrated code can be run to calculate all aspects of the levelized power cost, and in the third, the integrated code can be used to access an individual code which calculates one aspect of the levelized power generation cost as in the first mode of operation.

5. RESTRICTIONS ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEM:

6. TYPICAL RUNNING TIME:

7. UNUSUAL FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM:

8. RELATED AND AUXILIARY PROGRAMS

The individual programs in LPGC have their origins in several mainframe computer programs. The capital investment cost procedures are modeled after those in CONCEPT5 (NESC 498) and the operation and maintenance procedures after those in OMCOST (NESC 688). The nuclear fuel cycle cost procedures are based on those in the REFCO code (NESC 9820); the levelization procedures are based on those described in the 1987 Nuclear Energy Cost Data Base.

10. REFERENCES

- C.R. Hudson II,
  CONCEPT-5 User's Manual,
  ORNL-5470, January 1979.
- M.L. Myers, L.C. Fuller, and R.I. Bowers,
  Nonfuel Operation and Maintenance Costs for Large Steam-Electric
  Power Plants - 1982,
  NUREG/CR-2844 (ORNL/TM-8324), September 1982.
- H.I. Bowers, L.C. Fuller, and M.L. Myers,
  Cost Estimating Relationships for Nuclear Power Plant Operations
  and Maintenance,
  ORNL/TM-10563, November 1987.
- J.G. Delene and O.U. Herman,
  REFCO-83 User's Manual,
  NUREG/CR-3800 (ORNL/TM-9186), June 1984.
- Nuclear Energy Cost Data Base - A Reference Data Base for Nuclear
  and Coal-Fired Power Plant Power Generation Cost Analysis,
  DOE/NE-0095, September 1988.
- L.C. Fuller,
  User's Manual for Levelized Power Generation Cost Using IBM-PC,
  ORNL/TM-9575, June 1985.

- J.J. Coen and J.G. Delene:
  User Instructions for Levelized Power Generation Cost Codes Using
  an IBM-Type PC
  ORNL/TM-10997 (January 1989).
- P. Johnson:
  LPGC Flexible Disk Cartridge Descriptions,
  NESC Note 91-45 (February 22, 1991).

11. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS

A minimum of 64 Kbytes of RAM is required along with one flexible disk drive.

The tests were run by NEA-DB on a DELL 466/L IBM- compatible PC/80486-66Mhz.

13. OPERATING SYSTEM UNDER WHICH PROGRAM IS EXECUTED:  MS-DOS 2.1 or higher.

The test cases ran under MS-DOS 6.0. A GWBasic interpreter was used.

14. OTHER PROGRAMMING OR OPERATING INFORMATION OR RESTRICTIONS

A BASIC interpreter, either BASICA or GWBASIC, is required to compile the codes. A set of copyrighted Microsoft run-time libraries is included with the package. Compiled versions of the source, created with Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.0, are also included.

15. NAME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS

     J.J. Coen and J.G. Delene
     Engineering Technology Division
     Oak Ridge National Laboratory
     Oak Ridge
     Tennessee, U.S.A.

File name	File description	Records
NESC9449_01.001	Information file	126
NESC9449_01.002	Fuel costs for coal-fired plants (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.003	O&M costs for coal-fired plants (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.004	Fuel costs for nuclear plants (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.005	O&M costs for nuclear plants (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.006	Capital investment costs (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.007	For handling fuel cycle data (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.008	Capitalized cost from overnight cost(Source)	0
NESC9449_01.009	Levelized power generation costs (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.010	The driver program (Source)	0
NESC9449_01.011	Include file	14
NESC9449_01.012	O&M cost model coal plants, wet scrubbers	6
NESC9449_01.013	Capital inv. cost mod 550 MWe pulv coal pl	36
NESC9449_01.014	Cap inv cost mod 1100 MWe PWR better exp	35
NESC9449_01.015	O&M cost model coal plants, dry scrubbers	6
NESC9449_01.016	O&M cost model coal plants, no scrubbers	6
NESC9449_01.017	Cap inv cost mod 550 MWe PWR better exp	35
NESC9449_01.018	Cap inv cost mod 1100 MWe improved PWR	35
NESC9449_01.019	Cap inv cost mod 550 MWe improved PWR	35
NESC9449_01.020	Cap inv cost mod 550 MWe advanced PWR	35
NESC9449_01.021	Cap inv cost mod 1100 MWe PWR median exp	35
NESC9449_01.022	Data file of available mass balance sets	12
NESC9449_01.023	PWR extended burnup mass balance data	22
NESC9449_01.024	PWR standard burnup mass balance data	15
NESC9449_01.025	LSPB recycle mass balance data	13
NESC9449_01.026	LSPB inner blanket mass balance data	13
NESC9449_01.027	LSPB radial blanket mass balance data	13
NESC9449_01.028	MS QuickBASIC Compiler Version 4.0	0
NESC9449_01.029	The driver program	0
NESC9449_01.030	Levelized power generation costs	0
NESC9449_01.031	Capital investment costs	0
NESC9449_01.032	Fixed charge rate	0
NESC9449_01.033	O&M costs for coal-fired plants	0
NESC9449_01.034	O&M costs for nuclear plants	0
NESC9449_01.035	Fuel costs for nuclear plants	0
NESC9449_01.036	Fuel costs for coal-fired plants	0
NESC9449_01.037	Capitalized cost from overnight cost	0
NESC9449_01.038	DOS file-names	37