Nuclear Power Plant

Introduction
• A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the
heat source is a nuclear reactor.

• In all conventional thermal power stations the heat is used to generate

steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which
produces electricity.

• Fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) power stations and nuclear (uranium) power
stations, all use the same processes to make electricity from heat energy.

• The only difference between fossil fuel and nuclear power stations is
how the water is heated.

• In Fossil fuel power stations oil, gas or coal is fired in the boiler, which
means that the chemical energy of the fuel is converted into heat, while in a
nuclear power station uses the fission of uranium nuclei to generate heat.
• Fission is another word for splitting. The process of splitting a nucleus is
called nuclear fission.

• Uranium is a non-renewable energy resource and, like the fossil fuels, it

cannot be replaced once it has all been used up.

• Nuclear power plants are usually considered to be base load stations,

since fuel is a small part of the cost of production.
 Simple Operation Overview of NPS
• The conversion to electrical energy takes place indirectly, as in conventional
thermal power plants.

• The heat is produced by fission in a nuclear reactor (a light water reactor).

Directly or indirectly, water vapor (steam) is produced.

• The pressurized steam is then usually fed to a multi-stage steam turbine.

• After the steam turbine has expanded and partially condensed the steam, the
remaining vapor is condensed in a condenser.

• The condenser is a heat exchanger which is connected to a secondary side such

as a river or a cooling tower.

• The water is then pumped back into the nuclear reactor and the cycle begins
again.

• The water-steam cycle corresponds to the Rankine cycle.

 Site Selection for NPS
• Availability of water: As sufficient water is required for cooling purposes,
therefore, the plant site should be located where ample quantity of water is
available, e.g. across a river or by sea-side.

• Disposal of waste: The waste produced by fission in a nuclear power

station is generally radioactive which must be disposed off properly to
avoid health hazards. The waste should either be buried in a dip trench or
disposed off in sea quite away from the sea shore. Therefore, the site
selected for such a plant should have adequate arrangement for the disposal
of radioactive waste.

• Distance from populated areas: The site selected for a nuclear power plant
should be quite away from the populated areas as there is a danger of
presence of radioactivity in the atmosphere near the plant. However, as a
precautionary measure, a dome is used in the plant which does not allow
the radioactivity to spread by wind or underground waterways.
 Site Selection for NPS
• Near to load center: It should be near to the load center to reduce cost of
transmission towers as well as to reduce the transmission losses.

• Transportation facilities: The site selected for a nuclear power station

should have adequate facilities in order to transport the heavy equipment
during erection and to facilitate the movement of workers employed in the
plant.
 Essential Elements of NPS

• Fuel
• Nuclear Reactor
• Steam Turbine
• Generator
• Cooling System
• Safety Valves
• Feed Water Pump
• Condenser
• Emergency Power Supply
 Fuel
• Each fuel rod of Zircaloy contains stacks of uranium dioxide pellets.

• Zircaloy is an alloy of zirconium with low concentrations of tin, iron,

chromium and nickel.

• Sometimes, the fuel may contain boron or gadolinium to aid in the control
of the nuclear reaction.

• The fuel rods may be individually loaded into the reactors or may be
organized into fuel assemblies of a square or hexadecimal design with 6 –
10 inch nominal width.

• There are about 120 to 900 fuel assemblies in a reactor and each assembly
consists of 50 to 200 fuel rods.
Fuel
Fuel
Fuel
Fuel Assembly
 Essential Elements of NPS

Nuclear Reactor:

• A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear

chain reaction.

• The most common use of nuclear reactors is for the generation of electric
energy and for the propulsion of ships.

• The nuclear reactor is the heart of the plant. In its central part, the reactor
core's heat is generated by controlled nuclear fission.

• With this heat, a coolant is heated as it is pumped through the reactor and
thereby removes the energy from the reactor.
 Essential Elements of NPS
Nuclear Reactor:

• Heat from nuclear fission is used to raise steam, which runs

through turbines, which in turn powers either ship's propellers or electrical
generators.

• Since nuclear fission creates radioactivity, the reactor core is surrounded by

a protective shield.

• This containment absorbs radiation and prevents radioactive material from

being released into the environment.

• In addition, many reactors are equipped with a dome of concrete to protect

the reactor against both internal casualties and external impacts.

• In nuclear power plants, different types of reactors, nuclear fuels, and

cooling circuits and moderators are used.
 Essential Elements of NPS
Steam Turbine:
• The purpose of the steam turbine is to convert the heat contained in steam
into mechanical energy.

• The engine house with the steam turbine is usually structurally separated
from the main reactor building.

• It is so aligned to prevent debris from the destruction of a turbine in

operation from flying towards the reactor.

Generator:
• The generator converts kinetic energy supplied by the turbine into electrical
energy.

• Low-pole AC synchronous generators of high rated power are used.

 Essential Elements of NPS
Cooling System:
• A cooling system removes heat from the reactor core and transports it to
another area of the plant, where the thermal energy can be harnessed to
produce electricity or to do other useful work.

• Typically the hot coolant is used as a heat source for a boiler, and the
pressurized steam from that boiler powers one or more steam
turbine driven electrical generators.

Safety Valves:
• In the event of an emergency, two independent safety valves can be used to
prevent pipes from bursting or the reactor from exploding.

• The valves are designed so that they can derive all of the supplied flow
rates with little increase in pressure.
 Essential Elements of NPS
Feed Water Pump:
• The water level in the steam generator and nuclear reactor is controlled
using the feed water system.

• The feed water pump has the task of taking the water from the condensate
system, increasing the pressure and forcing it into either the Steam
Generators (Pressurized Water Reactor) or directly into the reactor vessel
(Boiling Water Reactor).

Emergency Power Supply:

• The emergency power supplies of a nuclear power plant are built up by
diesel generators, gas turbine generators and battery buffers.
Anatomy of a Nuclear Power Plant

Source: NRC
• The boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light
water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical
power.

• It is the second most common type of electricity-generating

nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor (PWR), also
a type of light water nuclear reactor.

• The main difference between a BWR and PWR is that in a

BWR, the reactor core heats water, which turns to steam and
then drives a steam turbine.

• In a PWR, the reactor core heats water which does not boil.
This hot water then exchanges heat with a lower pressure
water system, which turns to steam and drives the turbine.
• The BWR uses de-mineralized water as a coolant and neutron
moderator. Heat is produced by nuclear fission in the reactor
core, and this causes the cooling water to boil, producing steam.

• The steam is directly used to drive a turbine, after which it is

cooled in a condenser and converted back to liquid water.

• This water is then returned to the reactor core, completing the

loop.

• The cooling water is maintained at about 75 atm. (7.6 MPa,

1000–1100 psi) so that it boils in the core at about 285 °C
(550 °F).

• In comparison, there is no significant boiling allowed in a PWR

(Pressurized Water Reactor) because of the high pressure
maintained in its primary loop—approximately 155 atm.
 Advantages of BWR
• Heat exchanger circuit is eliminated, which results in reduction in
cost and gain in thermal efficiency.
• As water is allowed to boil inside the reactor, the pressure inside the
reactor vessel is considerably lower than in case of PWR. Therefore
the reactor vessel can be much lighter than PWR and that reduces
the cost of pressure vessel considerably.
• This reactor does not require steam generator, pressurizer,
circulating pump and connecting piping. Therefore the cost is
further reduced.
• BWR cycle is more efficient (thermal efficiency is 30%) than PWR
cycle since for a given containment pressure the outlet in terms of
steam is appreciably higher in BWR.
• The metal temperature is lower than PWR as boiling is allowed
inside the reactor.
• BWR is more stable than PWR.
 Disadvantages of BWR

• Possibility of radioactive containment in turbine mechanism during failure

of fuel element.

• More safety required, so cost increases.

• Wastage of steam resulting in reduction of thermal efficiency at certain load

operation.

• BWR cannot meet a sudden increase in power demand.

• The size of vessel will be considerably large compared with PWR because
the power density of this reactor is nearly 50% of PWR.
Anatomy of a Nuclear Power Plant

Source: NRC
• In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is pumped under high
pressure to the reactor core where it is heated by the energy
generated by the fission of atoms.

• Pressurized water reactor, which has fuel assemblies of 200-

300 rods each, arranged vertically in the core.

• Large reactor would have about 150-250 fuel assemblies with

80-100 tons of uranium.

• The temperature of the water is increased to a higher value by

means of fission process using U235 as a fuel.

• The heated water then flows to a steam generator where it

transfers its thermal energy to a secondary system where steam
drives the turbine which, in turn, spins an electric generator.
 PWR Design
Coolant:

• Light water is used as the primary coolant in a PWR.

• It enters the bottom of the reactor core at about 275 °C

(530 °F) and is heated as it flows upwards through the reactor
core to a temperature of about 315 °C (600 °F).

• The water remains liquid despite the high temperature due to

the high pressure in the primary coolant loop, usually around
155 bar (15.5 MPa or 153 atm.).

• In water, the critical point occurs at around 647 K (374 °C or

705 °F) and 22.064 MPa ( 218 atm.).
 PWR Design
Pressurizer:

• Pressure in the primary circuit is maintained by a pressurizer, a

separate vessel that is connected to the primary circuit and
partially filled with water which is heated to the saturation
temperature (boiling point) for the desired pressure by
submerged electrical heaters.

• To achieve a pressure of 155 bar, the pressurizer temperature is

maintained at 345 °C (653 °F), which gives a sub-cooling
margin (the difference between the pressurizer temperature
and the highest temperature in the reactor core) of 30 °C
(54 °F).
 PWR Design
Pumps:

• The coolant is pumped around the primary circuit by powerful

pumps, which can consume up to 6 MW each.

• After picking up heat as it passes through the reactor core, the

primary coolant transfers heat in a steam generator to water in
a lower pressure secondary circuit, evaporating the secondary
coolant to saturated steam — in most designs 6.2 MPa
(60 atm.), 275 °C (530 °F) — for use in the steam turbine.

• The cooled primary coolant is then returned to the reactor

vessel to be heated again.
 PWR Design
Moderator:
• In PWRs the coolant water is used as a moderator by letting the neutrons
undergo multiple collisions with light hydrogen atoms in the water, losing
speed in the process.

• This "moderating" of neutrons will happen more often when the water is
denser (more collisions will occur).

• The use of water as a moderator is an important safety feature of PWRs, as

an increase in temperature may cause the water to expand, giving greater
'gaps' between the water molecules and reducing the probability of
thermalisation - thereby reducing the extent to which neutrons are slowed
down and hence reducing the reactivity in the reactor.

• Therefore, if reactivity increases beyond normal, the reduced moderation of

neutrons will cause the chain reaction to slow down, producing less heat.
This property known as the negative temperature coefficient of reactivity,
makes PWR reactors very stable.
 Advantages of PWR
• It is compact in size and has high power density due to use of
enriched fuel.

• Due to use of heat exchanger, containment of fission product is

possible.

• The water which is used as moderator, coolant and reflector is

cheap.

• Reactor responds to load increase.

• PWR allows reducing the fuel cost extracting more energy per
unit weight.
 Disadvantages of PWR
• Since the moderator remains under high pressure, a strong pressure vessel
is required that increases the capital cost.

• The corrosion problems are more severe as the corrosion is accelerated in

the presence of high pressure and temperature of water. Therefore,
expensive cladding material is required to prevent the corrosion.

• There is a presence of heat loss due to heat exchanger.

• Thermal efficiency is too low (about 20 %) due to low pressure (60-70

kg/cm2) in the secondary circuit.

• When γ-radiations pass through the pressure vessel material, the heat is
released and causes uneven heating. This uneven heating imposes thermal
stresses in addition to pressure stresses and makes the design difficult.

• More safety devices are required.

Layout of NPS
• A nuclear reactor is an apparatus in which nuclear fuel (U235) is
subjected to nuclear fission. It controls the chain reaction that starts once
the fission is done. If the chain reaction is not controlled, the result will
be an explosion due to the fast increase in the energy released.

• A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical pressure vessel and houses fuel rods of

Uranium, moderator and control rods. The fuel rods constitute the
fission material and release huge amount of energy when bombarded
with slow moving neutrons.

• The moderator consists of graphite rods which enclose the fuel rods. The
moderator slows down the neutrons before they bombard the fuel rods.

• The control rods are of cadmium and are inserted into the reactor.
Cadmium is strong neutron absorber and thus regulates the supply of
neutrons for fission. When the control rods are pushed in deep enough,
they absorb most of fission neutrons and hence few are available for
chain reaction which, therefore stops.
• However they are being withdrawn, more and more of these fission
neutrons cause fission and hence the intensity of chain reaction (heat
production) is increased.

• Therefore, by pulling out the control rods, power of the nuclear reactor
is increased whereas by pushing them in, it is reduced. In actual practice,
the lowering or raising of control rods is accomplished automatically
according to the requirement of the load.

• The heat produced in the reactor is removed by the coolant, generally a

sodium metal. The coolant carries the heat to the heat exchanger.

• The coolant gives up heat to the water present in the drum of a heat
exchanger (boiler) to produce a steam. After giving up heat, the coolant
is again fed to the reactor.
• The steam produced in the heat exchanger is fed to the steam turbine
through a valve. After doing useful work in the turbine, the steam is
exhausted to the condenser where it is converted into the water by the
process of condensation.

• This feed water is again fed back to the heat exchanger through feed
water pump.

• The alternator is coupled with the shaft of the turbine. As the turbine
rotates, it drives the generator and produces the electricity.

• The voltage produced by the generator is then feeding to the main step-
up transformer to raise the voltage level for transmission.
 Disadvantages of NPS
• The fuel used is expensive and is difficult to recover.
• The capital cost on a nuclear plant is very high as compared to other types
of plants.
• The erection and commissioning of the plant requires greater technical
know-how.
• The fission by-products are generally radioactive and may cause dangerous
amount of radioactive pollution.
• Maintenance charges are high due to lack of standardization. Moreover,
high salaries of specially trained personnel employed to handle the plant
further raise the cost.
• The disposal of the products, which are radioactive, is a big problem. They
have either to be disposed off in a deep trench or in a sea away from sea-
shore.
• Nuclear power plants are not well suited for varying loads as the reactor
does not respond to the load fluctuations efficiently.
 Advantages of NPS
• The amount of fuel required is quite small. Therefore, there is a
considerable saving in cost of fuel transportation.
• A nuclear power plant requires less space as compared to any other type of
the same size.
• It has low running charges as a small amount of fuel is used for producing
bulk electrical energy.
• This type of plant is very economical for producing bulk electrical energy.
• It can be located near the load centers because it does not require large
quantities of water and need not be near coal mines. Therefore, the cost of
primary distribution is reduced.
• There are large deposits of nuclear fuels available all over the world.
Therefore, such plants can ensure continued supply of electrical energy for
thousands of years.
• It ensures the reliability of operation.