MOUSE: Bridging Microreactor Design and Economics
An integrated simulation and cost analysis tool to optimize microreactor performance, guide design decisions, and enhance market competitiveness.
Microreactor Optimization Using Simulation and Economics (MOUSE) is a tool that integrates nuclear microreactor design with reactor economics. The design calculations encompass core simulations using the OpenMC Monte Carlo Particle Transport Code, along with simplified balance of plant calculations. On the economic side, MOUSE provides detailed bottom-up cost estimates, calculating both the total capital cost and the levelized cost of energy for first-of-a-kind and nth-of-a-kind microreactors. The cost estimation correlations are developed using data from the MARVEL project and additional literature sources.
By combining design calculations with cost equations, MOUSE enables users to evaluate the impact of various technological consideration, advanced moderators, design changes, material/fuel changes, and geometry modifications—as well as economic parameters like interest rates and construction duration. This comprehensive framework can guide stakeholders towards technological solutions that enhance microreactor competitiveness. Additionally, powered by the WATTS toolkit, MOUSE supports optimization studies, parametric analyses, and uncertainty calculations/propagation.
MOUSE is an open source software available through INL's GitHub Repository: https://github.com/IdahoLabResearch/MOUSE