Nuclear Power plants

• Nuclear Power Station

•
• A generating station in which nuclear energy is converted into
electrical energy is known as a nuclear power station.
• In nuclear power station, heavy elements such as Uranium(U-
235) or Thorium (Th-232) are subjected to nuclear fission in a
special apparatus known as a reactor. The heat energy thus
released is utilized in raising steam at high temperature and
pressure. The steam runs the steam turbine which converts
steam energy into mechanical energy. The turbine drives the
alternator which converts mechanical energy into electrical
energy.
• Importance of a nuclear power plant:
• The need of nuclear power plant lies in the fact that
the hunger for electricity is virtually unending and after
each decade the world demand for electricity is
doubled owing to booming increase in the population
and industrial growth. Moreover, the reserves of fossil
fuels i.e., coal, oil and gas are fast depleting. Thus there
is a tendency to seek alternative source of energy and
the nuclear power is the only alternative source, which
can meet the future energy demands of the world.
• One of it’s main attraction is the huge amount of
energy that can be released from a small quantity of
active material. The energy obtainable by completely
burning of 1kg uranium would give energy
equivalent to 3000-4000 tons of high grade coal.
• The cost of fuel in conventional thermal power plant
comes about 40-50% of the total cost per kWh of
generated power, while in nuclear power plants it
varies from 4-20% depending upon the enrichment
of Uranium-235.
 Advantages & disadvantages of nuclear power plants:

• The amount of fuel required is quite small, & hence there is no

problem of transportation, storage and etc..,
• These plants need less area as compared to any other type of plants
of same capacity. For example, for a 2000MW capacity, nuclear
power plant requires 80acres of land where as coal fired steam plant
requires 250 acres of the land.
• The plant can be located near to the load centers, so, the cost of
transmission and distribution is reduced.These plants are most
economical in large capacity.
• Nuclear power plant reduces the demand for coal, oil, & gas etc..,
fossil fuels.The operation cost (for fuel) is quite low.
• The plant can be always operated as a base load plant, for which it
ensures reliable operation.
• Disadvantages:
• The demerits of nuclear power plants over
other conventional power plants are,
• Initial cost is very high.
• The fission by-products are generally radio-
active and may cause a dangerous amount of
radio-active pollution.
• This plant is not well suited for varying loads.
• The fuel used is very expensive.
 Contd..
• Salaries of maintaining staff is very high, since nuclear power plant
requires very high skilled and highly qualified engineers to maintain the
plant.
• The disposal of the products, which are radioactive, is a big problem.
They have either to be disposed off in a deep trench (deep ditches in
ground), or in a sea away from sea-shore or in to a river, which causes
water contamination.
• The chief disadvantage of a nuclear power plant is that, in case of an
accident, the disaster is almost like explosion of an atom bomb causing
extensive damage to the mankind, animals and environment.
• The cooling water requirements of a nuclear power plant are very heavy
(more than twice the water required for the same size coal-fired steam
power plant), hence cooling towers required for nuclear power plants are
larger and costlier than those for conventional steam power plants.
SELECTION OF SITE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

• Availability of water supply:-

• As sufficient water is required for cooling etc.., therefore,
the site selected for the plant should be neara river or lake
or by seaside.
• Distance from populated area:-
• In view of danger of radio-activity in the vicinity of the
plant, a nuclear station should be as far as possible away
from thickly populated areas.
• Nearness to load centers:-
• The plant should be located near to load centers to reduce
transmission cost and transmission line losses.
 Contd..
• Disposal of waste:-
• The site selected for these power plants should have adequate space and
arrangement for the disposal of radio-active waste. i.e., it may be nearer to a sea
or river or there should be a provision to dispose waste into deep ditches.
• Transportation facilities:-
• As nuclear power plant needs very little fuel, hence it does not require direct rail
facilities for fuel transport.However, transportation facilities are required during
the construction stage and as well as for the workers, employees working in the
plant.
• Type of land:-
• The land must be strong to support the heavy weighted reactors and it should
be cheap in cost.
• Hence from the factors mentioned above it is obvious that ideal choice for a
nuclear plant would be nearer to a sea, river or lake and away from thickly
populated areas.
 ATOMIC FUELS:

• Natural Uranium (U-235), Enriched Uranium (U-

238),Thorium (Th-232) and Plutonium (Pu-239) are
the main atomic fuels. It has been estimated that
uranium alone contains far more energy than all the
world’s resources of coal and petroleum put together.
• The splitting of 1kg of Uranium (U-235) atoms yields
25×106 kWh in heat form, which when converted into
electrical energy by conveying it to steam turbine
through molten metal and heat exchanger results in
about 6.5×106 kWh of electrical energy.
 NUCLEAR REACTIONS:
• Nuclear reactions are of two types, namely
• Nuclear fusion reaction.
• Nuclear fission reaction.
• Which, releases high amount of heat
energy.
• NUCLEAR FUSION REACTION:-
• Nuclear fusion is the reaction in which
two or more small nuclei combine together to
form a new element with heavy nuclei.
• Example:
• Hydrogen bomb is developed by using the
concept of nuclear fusion.
 NUCLEAR FISSION REACTION:-

• The splitting of a heavy nucleus into two or

more smaller nuclei when bombarded by
certain particles is termed as nuclear fission.
• In nuclear plants fission is done by
bombarding uranium nuclei with slow moving
neutron. This process of fission gives two or
more smaller nuclei and is always
accompanied by the ejection of two or more
neutrons and liberation of vast energy.
• A, given large nucleus can fission in many ways
forming a variety of products. Thus the fission
of U-235 occurs about 35 ways.
• Example:
• Atom bomb is developed by using the concept
of nuclear fission.
 Energy can be obtained two ways

• Fission
• Splitting atoms
• Get energy if the nucleus is big.
• The smaller ones are more stable.
• What we do in nuclear reactors.

• Fusion
• Joining atoms
• Get energy if the nuclei are small.
• The larger one is more stable.
• This is how the sun works.

18
• Fission is the splitting of atoms
• These are usually very large, so that they are
not as stable
• Fission chain has three general steps:
• 1. Initiation. Reaction of a single atom starts
the chain (e.g., 235U + neutron)
• 2. Propagation. 236U fission releases neutrons
that initiate other fissions
• 3. Termination.
• A very heavy nucleus splits into more stable
nuclei of intermediate mass.
• The mass of the products is less than the mass
of the reactants.
• Missing mass is converted to energy
In nuclear fission,

• a large nucleus is bombarded with a small

particle.

• the nucleus splits into smaller nuclei and

several neutrons.

• large amounts of energy are released.

 Nuclear Fission Diagram

Copyright © 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Publishing as Benjamin Cummings

1
n + 235U “236U” 91
Kr + 142Ba + 3 1n + energy
0 92 92 36 56 0
 Where does all this energy come from?

E = mc2
E = Energy (joules)
m = mass (kg)
c = speed of light = 3 x 10^8 m/s
 Chain Reaction
A chain reaction
occurs
• when a critical mass
of uranium
undergoes fission.
• releasing a large
amount of heat and
energy that
produces an atomic
explosion.

24
 Nuclear Fusion
• Light-mass nuclei combine to form a heavier,
more stable nucleus.
• More energetic than fission reactions
• Source of energy for the H-bomb
• Origin of the elements
 Nuclear Fusion

Fusion
• occurs at extremely high temperatures (100
000 000°C).
• combines small nuclei into larger nuclei.
• releases large amounts of energy.
• occurs continuously in the sun and stars.

26
Fusion: small nuclei form larger nuclide,
release energy

This type of
Small nuclei come together to form larger
Fusion is being
nuclide, releasing energy
Examined as
An alternative
Energy source
On Earth.

27
 Elements in a Nuclear Power Plant:

• A nuclear power plant mainly consists of the

following elements,
• Nuclear Reactor
• Heat Exchanger Steam Turbine.
• Alternator.
• Condenser.
 Operation of the Plant:

• In the atomic reactor by the fission process tremendous

amount of heat energy is produced. The splitting of a
heavy nucleus into two or more smaller nuclei when
bombarded by certain particles is termed as nuclear
fission.In nuclear plants fission is done by bombarding
uranium nuclei with slow moving neutron.
• This heat energy is extracted by pumping fluid or molten
metal, like liquid sodium or gas through pile.
• The heated metal is then allowed to exchange its heat
with the water in the heat exchanger by water
circulation.
 Contd..
• In heat exchanger steam is generated which is
utilised to drive steam turbine coupled to an
alternator there by generating electrical energy.
• Steam valves are arranged between the heat
exchanger and the turbine units to improve the
steam pressure.
• The exhaust steam from turbine is given to
condenser and circulated to exchanger through
feed water pump as shown in the figure.
Nuclear Reactor - Main Parts & Their Functions:

• Reactor is that part of nuclear power plant

where nuclear fuel is subjected to nuclear
fission reaction and the heat energy released in
this process is utilized to heat the coolant which
may in turn, generate steam in heat exchanger.
• A nuclear reactor is a device in which heat
energy is produced by nuclear chain reaction.
The main function of the reactor is to control
the emission and absorption of neutrons.
 A nuclear reactor consists of the following basic components.

• 1) Reactor core. 5) Reflector.

• 2) Moderator. 6) Shielding.
• 3) Control rods. 7) Reactor vessel.
• 4) Coolant. 8) Neutron
detector.
 Reactor core

• The core consists of number of fuel rods made up of materials

like Uranium (Natural, Enriched), Thorium, Plutonium etc.,
the core has a series of parallel fuel elements in the form of
thin plates or small rods, with coolant flowing axially into the
reactor core assembly, moderator is surrounded by reflector
as shown in the figure. The fuel rods should be clad with
aluminium, stainless steel, or zirconium.
• The reactors are supposed to maintain the Critical size of the
core. The size of the core just sufficient to maintain a chain
reaction is the “critical size”. The critical size depends on the
type of fuel used. For enriched uranium fuel, the critical size of
core is less compared to other fuels.
 Moderator:

• The moderator is used to slow down the fast

moving neutrons by absorbing some kinetic
energy of neutron by direct collision, and
thereby increasing the chain reaction. The
materials used for moderators are Ordinary
water, Heavy water, Graphite, Beryllium etc.
 Control rods:

• Control rods are meant for controlling the rate

of fission of the fuel. These are made of
Boron-10, Cadmium, and Hafnium etc., which
absorbs some of the slowed neutrons and
controls the chain reaction.
 Coolant:

• It is a medium through which the heat generated in

the reactor is transferred to the heat exchanger for
further utilization in power generation.
• Coolant flows through and around the reactor core.
• It performs the additional function of keeping the
interior of reactor at the desired temperature.
• A good coolant should not absorb neutrons, should be
non-corrosive, and have good heat transfer capability.
• The materials used as coolants are as follows.
• Air, Helium, Hydrogen and CO2 amongst the
gases,
• Light and Heavy water amongst the liquids,
• Molten metal like liquid sodium and Lithium
amongst the metals,
 Reflector:

• It is used to reflect escaping neutrons.

• A neutron reflector is placed around the core
and used to avoid the leakage of neutrons from
the core.
• The main function of the reflector is to reflect as
many leakage neutrons as possible back to core.
• The material normally used is high grade
graphite, or most of the times same material is
used for both moderator and reflector.
 Shielding:

• Shielding is provided around a reactor to

minimize the effect of radioactive
contamination to the surroundings or the
personnel living nearby the reactor.
• The materials used for shielding are Lead,
Concrete, Steel, and Cadmium. Concrete is
found to be the most commonly used
shielding material among the other materials.
 Reactor vessel:

• The reactor core, reflector, and shielding are

all enclosed in the main body of the reactor
and is called the reactor vessel or reactor tank.
 Pressurised water reactor (PWR)

• In the PWR, water at high pressure and temperature

removes heat from the core and is transported to a
steam generator.
• There the heat from the primary loop is transferred to a
lower-pressure secondary loop also containing water. The
water in the secondary loop enters the steam generator at a
pressure and temperature slightly below that required to
initiate boiling.
• Upon absorbing heat from the primary loop, however, it
becomes saturated and ultimately slightly superheated. The
steam thus generated ultimately serves as the working fluid
in a steam-turbine cycle.
• PWRs use ordinary water as both coolant and
moderator. The design is distinguished by
having a primary cooling circuit which flows
through the core of the reactor under very
high pressure, and a secondary circuit in which
steam is generated to drive the turbine.
 Boiling water reactor (BWR)

• This type of reactor has many similarities to the

PWR, except that there is only a single circuit in
which the water is at lower pressure (about 75
times atmospheric pressure) so that it boils in the
core at about 285°C. The reactor is designed to
operate with 12-15% of the water in the top part
of the core as steam, and hence with less
moderating effect and thus efficiency there. BWR
units can operate in load-following mode more
readily than PWRs.
• The steam passes through drier plates (steam
separators) above the core and then directly to the
turbines, which are thus part of the reactor circuit.
Since the water around the core of a reactor is always
contaminated with traces of radionuclides, it means
that the turbine must be shielded and radiological
protection provided during maintenance. The cost of
this tends to balance the savings due to the simpler
design. Most of the radioactivity in the water is very
short-lived*, so the turbine hall can be entered soon
after the reactor is shut down.
• Uranium's nucleus is unstable, which means the element is in
a constant state of decay. Like many other elements, uranium
occurs in several slightly different forms, each of which is
known as an isotope. What makes uranium so powerful is its
isotope 'uranium-235' or U-235, which has a half-life of 704
million years.
• When exposed to certain conditions, the nucleus of the U-235
atom can be readily split (a process known as
fission) which releases energy in the form of heat. The heat
that is released throws off other neutrons - which in turn
causes the nuclei of other U-235 atoms to split - and resulting
in what is known as a fission 'chain reaction'.
• To make uranium fission more efficient, nuclear
engineers 'enrich' it to increase the proportion
of U-235. The most enriched uranium for
nuclear power plants is comprised of between
three and five percent U-235.
• At the other end of the scale, is what's known as
'depleted' uranium, which is used to make tank
armour and bullets, and which is about forty-
percent less radioactive than natural uranium.
• The vast majority of nuclear power reactors use the
isotope uranium-235 as fuel; however, it only makes
up 0.7% of the natural uranium mined and must
therefore be increased through a process called
enrichment. This increases the uranium-235
concentration from 0.7% to between 3% and 5%,
which is the level used in most reactors.
• A small number of reactors, most notably the CANDU
reactors from Canada, are fuelled with natural
uranium, which does not have to be enriched.
• The enrichment process requires the uranium to be in a
gaseous form. This is achieved through a process called
conversion, where uranium oxide is converted to a different
compound (uranium hexafluoride) which is a gas at
relatively low temperatures.
• The uranium hexafluoride is fed into centrifuges, with
thousands of rapidly-spinning vertical tubes that separate
uranium-235 from the slightly heavier uranium-238 isotope.
The centrifuges separate the uranium into two streams: one
stream is enriched in uranium-235; the other consists of
‘tails’ containing a lower concentration of uranium-235, and
known as depleted uranium (DU).