Papers published in Energy are eligible for awards from the Institution of Civil Engineers. Papers from any of the ICE journals can be nominated for several awards. In addition, each journal has awards dedicated to their specific subject area.
On Monday 8 October 2018, ICE president Robert Mair presented an award to the following paper published in Energy in 2017. The editorial panel nominated their best papers and an awards committee chaired by Nigel Wright allocated the awards.
James Watt Medal
The James Watt Medal, awarded for the best paper on an energy topic, was awarded to Locatelli et al. (2017).
Abstract
Small modular nuclear reactors have the advantage of flexibility in deployment and shorter construction time compared with large reactors. Investment appraisals in the energy sector are traditionally based on discounted cash flow, but this tends to underestimate the value of management flexibility during the decision-making process. The ‘real options’ valuation method can better support an investment appraisal. This paper, leveraging the real options approach, gives an account of two key strategic aspects to support the decision-making process in building small modular reactors: the time to market with the relative stage-gate process and the effect of a new plant on the existing portfolio. This paper assesses small modular reactors against other base-load power plants and, once applied to the UK scenario, it shows the superior performance of small modular reactors.
Winners of the James Watt Medal Marco Pecoraro and Giorgio Locatelli with ICE president Robert Mair (centre)
Winners of the James Watt Medal Marco Pecoraro and Giorgio Locatelli with ICE president Robert Mair (centre)
