LecPPT6 PWR
LecPPT6 PWR
LecPPT6 PWR
Water
Reactor
The core of a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR)
contains about 100 tons of nuclear fuel.
The amount of
steam produced is
proportional to the
core’s power level.
As core power level
increases, more
steam is produced.
Much of the
secondary system is
housed within the
turbine building.
If the primary
system pressure
drops to less than
half its normal
operating pressure,
indicative of a loss
of water inventory,
water from the
accumulators
automatically flows
into the “cold leg.”
The charging
pumps can transfer
water from the
refueling water
storage tank to the
“cold legs” to
compensate for
minor losses of
water from the
primary system.
During normal
operation, primary
system water flows
continuously
through the
demineralizers and
the volume control
tank and then back
to the “cold leg.”
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FLOW PATH WITHIN REACTOR VESSEL
CR guide tubes
Upper support
plate Barrel flange
Hot nozzle
Water in at Water out at
288C 324C
Cold nozzle
Top of active fuel
Core
Pictures from: M. Kanda, Improvement in US-APWR design from lessons learned in Japanese
PWRs.ICAPP-07. May 2007 (top), and EPR brochure available at www.areva.com (bottom two)
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Public domain image from Wikipedia. Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
TYPICAL 4-LOOP REACTOR VESSEL
PARAMETERS
Overall length of assembled vessel, closure head, and nozzles 13.36 m
Inside diameter of shell 4.39 m
Radius from center of vessel to nozzle face
Inlet 3.33 m
Outlet 3.12 m
Nominal cladding thickness 5.56 mm
Minimum cladding thickness 3.18 mm
Coolant volume with core and internals in place 134.2 m3
Operating pressure 15.51 MPa
Design pressure 17.24 MPa
Design temperature 343.3˚C
Vessel material Carbon steel
Cladding material Stainless steel
Number of vessel material surveillance capsules, total 8
TYPICAL 4-LOOP CORE
Accommodates fuel
swelling without
breaking the clad
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PWR Control Rod (Westinghouse RCCA)
Made of B4C (“black” rods for scram) or Ag-In-Cd (“gray” rods for
fine tuning)
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Other means to control reactivity in PWRs
Boron (boric acid, H3BO3) dissolved in coolant. Compensates for
loss of reactivity due to fuel burnup. High concentration at BOC
(beginning of cycle), progressively decreased to zero at EOC (end
of cycle)
Pros: uniform absorption throughout core, concentration is easily controlled
Cons: makes coolant slightly acidic (requires addition of other chemicals to re-
equilibrate pH), can deposit (come out of solution) as crud on fuel rods, can make
moderator reactivity feedback positive at high concentration
8000
Core critical boron concentration (ppm)
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Exposure (GWD/MTU)
1.15
1.10
k
1.05
1.00
0.95
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Assembly exposure (GWD/MTU)
4. Fuel Rods
Total number 50,952
Fuel density (% of theoretical) 94
Fuel pellet diameter (mm) 8.19
Fuel rod diameter (mm) 9.5
Cladding thickness (mm) 0.57
Cladding material Zircaloy-4
Active fuel height (m) 3.66
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.
A.V. Nero, Jr., A Guidebook to Nuclear Reactors, 1979.
PWR PRESSURIZER
Pressurizer (Saturated Liquid-Steam System: P=15.5 MPa, T=344.7˚C)
Controls pressure in the primary system
Steam
- Pressure can be raised by heating
2m water (electrically)
Liquid
Electric heaters
- Pressure can be lowered by
condensing steam (on sprayed
droplets)
Surge Line
Hot leg
PRESSURIZER TYPICAL DESIGN DATA
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From: EPR brochure. Available at www.areva.com
ONCE-THROUGH NUCLEAR STEAM GENERATOR
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license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse. Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
TYPICAL DESIGN DATA FOR STEAM GENERATORS
Number and type 4 Vertical, U-tube steam generators with integral steam-drum
Height overall 20.62 m
Upper shell OD 4.48 m
Lower shell OD 2.44 m
Operating pressure, tube side 15.5 MPa
Design pressure, tube side 17.2 MPa
Design temperature, tube side 343.3oC
Full load pressure, shell side 6.90 MPa
Maximum moisture at outlet (full load) 0.25%
Design pressure, shell side 8.27 MPa
Reactor coolant flow rate 4360 kg/s
Reactor coolant inlet temperature 325.8oC
Reactor coolant outlet temperature 291.8oC
Shell material Mn-Mo steel
Channel head material Carbon steel clad internally with stainless steel
Tube sheet material Mo-Cr-Ni steel clad with Inconel on primary face
Tube material Inconel
Tube OD 2.22 cm
Average tube wall thickness 1.27 mm
Steam generator weights
Dry weight, in place 312,208 kg
Normal operating weight, in place 376,028 kg
Flooded weight (cold) 509,384 kg
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.