Calculating the environmental cost of the nuclear power plants Angra 1, 2 and 3 using the program SIMPACTS

Environmental impact, converted into economic terms, is an environmental cost. For this calculation, computational programs such as the Simplified Approach of Estimating Impacts of Electricity Generation (SIMPACTS) are used. SIMPACTS is a code that estimates and quantifies the costs of both, environmental and health damage, caused by different electricity generation technologies. The aim of this work is the calculation of the environmental cost of the nuclear power plants Angra 1, 2 and 3. The results were compared with data provided in the program of the Serra da Mesa hydroelectric power plant. The results have demonstrated that a nuclear reactor has lower impacts associated and consequently lower environmental cost than a hydropower plant of similar capacity. Therefore, nuclear reactors are attractive sources of power generation with low environmental impacts.