Author(s):
Vipin Kumar Sharma, Satyam Shree, Nakkeeran E.

Abstract:
The transition toward secure, low-carbon electricity generation requires energy technologies to be evaluated simultaneously in terms of environmental performance, technical reliability, economic viability, resource requirements, and strategic value. Although nuclear power is widely recognized as a low-carbon and high-capacity-factor technology, its overall benefits remain sensitive to fuel-cycle characteristics, system boundaries, economic assumptions, and decision criteria. This study presents a transparent literature-based comparative assessment of nuclear power using an integrated life-cycle assessment (LCA) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. The environmental assessment was performed on a cradle-to-grave basis using 1 kWh of net electricity as the functional unit, while the MCDA incorporated 14 technical, environmental, economic, resource, and strategic indicators. Min–max normalisation and equal baseline weighting were applied, followed by a ±20% weight-perturbation analysis over 130 simulations to examine ranking robustness. Literature-derived median life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions were approximately 12 g CO₂-eq/kWh for nuclear, compared with 11, 48, 490 and 820 g CO₂-eq/kWh for wind, solar photovoltaic, natural gas and coal, respectively. The resulting MCDA scores were 0.746 for nuclear, 0.706 for wind, 0.643 for solar PV, 0.566 for natural gas, and 0.404 for coal. Nuclear retained the first position in 93.8% of sensitivity simulations, indicating robust performance within the defined decision space. The findings demonstrate that nuclear power can provide a strong combination of low life-cycle emissions, high energy density and reliable electricity generation, while limitations associated with capital intensity, radioactive-waste management and deployment conditions must remain integral to sustainability assessments.

Pages: 979-1001

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