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Misc
Wednesday, August 29 2012, 10:43 PM

Nuclear Reactor Types

PHWR
A pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unenriched natural
uranium as its fuel, that uses heavy water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and moderator. The heavy water
coolant is kept under pressure, allowing it to be heated to higher temperatures without boiling, much as in a PWR.
While heavy water is significantly more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron
economy, allowing the reactor to operate without fuel enrichment facilities(mitigating the additional capital cost of the
heavy water) a

Natural uranium consists of a mixture of various isotopes, primarily 238U and a much smaller
amount (about 0.72% by weight) of 235U. 238U can only be fissioned by neutrons that are fairly
energetic, about 1 MeV or above. No amount of 238U can be made "critical", however, since it will
tend to parasitically absorb more neutrons than it releases by the fission process. 235U, on the
other hand, can support a self-sustained chain reaction, but due to the low natural abundance
of 235U, natural uranium cannot achieve criticality by itself.
The "trick" to making a working reactor is to slow some of the neutrons to the point where their probability of causing
nuclear fission in 235U increases to a level that permits a sustained chain reaction in the uranium as a whole. This
requires the use of a neutron moderator, which absorbs some of the neutrons' kinetic energy, slowing them down to
an energy comparable to the thermal energy of the moderator nuclei themselves (leading to the terminology of
"thermal neutrons" and "thermal reactors"). During this slowing-down process it is beneficial to physically separate
the neutrons from the uranium, since 238U nuclei have an enormous parasitic affinity for neutrons in this intermediate
energy range (a reaction known as "resonance" absorption). This is a fundamental reason for designing reactors with
discrete solid fuel separated by moderator, rather than employing a more homogeneous mixture of the two materials.
Water makes an excellent moderator; the hydrogen atoms in the water molecules are very close in mass to a single
neutron, and the collisions thus have a very efficient momentum transfer, similar conceptually to the collision of two
billiard balls. However, in addition to being a good moderator, water is also fairly effective at absorbing neutrons.
Using water as a moderator will absorb enough neutrons that there will be too few left over to react with the small
amount of 235U in the fuel, again precluding criticality in natural uranium. Instead, light water reactors first enhance
the amount of 235U in the uranium, producing enriched uranium, which generally contains between 3% and 5% 235U
by weight (the waste from this process is known as depleted uranium, consisting primarily of 238U). In this enriched
form there is enough 235U to react with the water-moderated neutrons to maintain criticality

One complication of this approach is the requirement to build a uranium enrichment facility, which
are generally expensive to build and operate. They also present a nuclear proliferation concern; the
same systems used to enrich the 235U can also be used to produce much more "pure" weaponsgrade material (90% or more 235U), suitable for producing a nuclear bomb. This is not a trivial
exercise by any means, but feasible enough that enrichment facilities present a significant nuclear
proliferation risk.
An alternative solution to the problem is to use a moderator that does not absorb neutrons as readily as water. In this
case potentially all of the neutrons being released can be moderated and used in reactions with the 235U, in which
case there is enough 235U in natural uranium to sustain criticality. One such moderator is heavy water, or deuteriumhttps://www.evernote.com/pub/crazyphoton/economicsindia/#st=p&n=c40cdfde-0d64-4bd5-b931-db594be2aebd

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oxide.
VVER (Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reactor)
Reactor fuel rods are fully immersed in water kept at 15 MPa of pressure so that it does not boil at normal (220 to
over 300 C) operating temperatures. Water in the reactor serves both as a coolant and a moderator which is an
important safety feature. Should coolant circulation fail the neutron moderation effect of the water diminishes,
reducing reaction intensity and compensating for loss of cooling, a condition known as negative void coefficient. Later
versions of the reactors are encased in massive steel pressure shells. Fuel is low enriched (ca. 2.4
4.4% 235U) uranium dioxide (UO2) or equivalent pressed into pellets and assembled into fuel rods.
Primary Cooling Circuit

As stated above, water in the primary circuit is kept under constant pressure to avoid boiling.
Since the water transfers all the heat from the core and is irradiated, integrity of this circuit is most
crucial. In the circuit four subsystems can be distinguished:
1. Reactor: Water flows through fuel rod assemblies and is heated by the nuclear chain
reaction.
2. Volume compensator: To keep the water under constant but controlled pressure, the
volume compensator regulates pressure employing self-regulation of saturated steamwater interface and by means of electrical heating and relief valves.
3. Steam Generator: In the steam generator, heat from primary coolant water is used to boil
water in the secondary circuit.
4. Pump: The pump ensures proper circulation of the water through the circuit.
To ensure safety primary components are redundant.
Secondary Cooling Circuit

The secondary circuit also consists of different subsystems:

1. Steam Generator: Secondary water is boiled taking heat from the primary circuit. Before
entering the turbine remaining water is separated from the steam so that the steam is dry.
2. Turbine: The expanding steam drives a turbine, which connects to an electrical generator.
The turbine is split into high and low pressure sections. To prevent condensation (Water
droplets at high speed damage the turbine blades) steam is reheated between these
sections. Reactors of the VVER-1000 type deliver 1 GW of electrical power.
3. Condenser: The steam is cooled and allowed to condense, shedding waste heat into a
cooling circuit.
4. Deaerator: Removes gases from the coolant.
5. Pump: The circulation pumps are each driven by their own small steam turbine.
To increase efficiency of the process, steam from the turbine is taken to reheat coolant before the deaerator and the
steam generator. Water in this circuit is not supposed to be radioactive.

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Passive heat removal system

A passive heat removal system has been added to the existing active systems in the AES-92 version of the VVER-1000 used for
the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India. This has been retained for the newer VVER-1200 and future designs. The
system is based on a cooling system and water tanks built on top of the containment dome.[13]The passive systems all safety
functions for 24 hours, and core safety for 72 hours.[4]

EPR
The reactor can use 5% enriched uranium oxide fuel, reprocessed uranium fuel and 100% mixed uranium plutonium
oxide fuel.

The EPR design has several active and passive protection measures against accidents:
Four independent emergency cooling systems, providing the required cooling of the decay
heat that continues for 1 to 3 years after the reactor's initial shutdown (i.e. 300% redundancy)
Leaktight containment around the reactor
An extra container and cooling area if a molten core manages to escape the reactor
(see containment building)
Two-layer concrete wall with total thickness 2.6 meters, designed to withstand impact by
aeroplanes and internal overpressure

CAG Jurisdiction
The CAGs role should be viewed in the context of our constitutional scheme under which the executive is accountable to
Parliament. CAG is an essential instrument for enforcing the accountability mechanism as the CAGs reports on
governments stewardship of public finance are required to be placed in Parliament and state legislatures under Article 151
of the Constitution. To enable him to discharge this responsibility, without fear or favour, he has been given an independent
status under Article 148 analogous to that of a Supreme Court judge.
In India we have adopted the British system of parliamentary democracy. Britain had to undergo centuries of struggle to
secure Parliaments supremacy over the executive (monarchy), dating back to Magna Carta (1215) and Bill of Rights (1688)
and measures such as enactment of the Exchequer and the Audit Act of 1866, which created an independent office of CAG,
who would audit all government departments and make a report to Parliament to be examined by its Public Accounts
Committee (PAC). In order to strengthen parliamentary control, the UK Audit Act was amended in 1983 and the CAG made
an Officer of the House of Commons and legal backing given to him for conducting economy, efficiency and effectiveness
audit.During the 1990s, all the advanced Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand amended their audit
acts and made provision similar to that of the UK, and made the CAG an officer of Parliament with powers to conduct an
efficiency audit of government operations. The US Government Accountability Office since its inception has been recognised
as a legislative branch agency and reports on a wide variety of subjects from federal fiscal issues and debt control to
aviation security, gun control and counterterrorism matters. In continental countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Austria
and Belgium, there is a system of audit courts, which while performing functions of expenditure control on behalf of
Parliament, enjoy wide powers and act like judicial bodies. The French Cour des Comptes is assisted by the prosecutor
general responsible for providing legal advice, and has power to recover improperly expended public funds or cash deficits
from defaulting officers.
Most democratic countries have a statutory provision of securing Parliaments consent for appointment of the head of the
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supreme audit institution (SAI). Not only Commonwealth countries such as UK, Canada and New Zealand, but countries
with such diverse political systems as the US, Germany, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and Thailand have this
requirement and the appointment of head of SAI is ratified by their legislature. This is in recognition of the fact that SAIs have
to do very delicate work, while commenting on deeds and misdeeds of the government, a task which they can perform
effectively only when they are given not only independence from the executive but parliamentary backing as well.

Gadgil Formula
1. Special Category states were given preference. Their needs should first be met out of the total
pool of Central assistance.
2. The remaining balance of the Central assistance should be distributed among the remaining
States on the basis of the following criteria:
60 per cent on the basis of population;
10 per cent on the basis of tax effort, determined on the basis of individual State's per capita
tax receipts as percentage of the State's per capita income;
10 per cent on the basis of per capita State income, assistance going only to States whose
per capita incomes are below the national average;
10 per cent on the basis of spill-over of major continuing irrigation and power projects;
10 per cent for special problems of individual States.
Reasoning behind the given weights:
i. Population
In a country like India population acts as an apt measure to represent the requirements of the
people because a major portion of the population lives below the poverty line. This proposition was
also supported by the empirical data which showed a negative correlation between population of
states and their per capita income.
ii. Tax effort
This is an important factor to measure the potential of the state as far as its own resources are
concerned. This relative measure incentivizes the states to undertake measures to increase their
own potential through various tax measures.
iii. State per capita income
A problem regarding unequal development amongst the states was faced in the earlier plans
because of larger states with their large plans were able to get a larger share of resources from the
centre. This led to increased inequalities amongst the states. Therefore, to make the distribution
fairer to the smaller states with a lesser than national per capita average income were given extra
share in the resources.
iv. Special Problems
This factor was introduced so as to provide enough resources to states to overcome problems like
droughts, famines etc. In the absence of this share, such states would have suffered huge losses
because of these problems and the implementation of their plans could have been hindered. This
was a discretionary element in the formula which required proper scrutiny of the states situation by
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the Finance Commission.

v. Irrigation and power projects
These projects have been in the process of implementation before the fourth plan was formulated. They needed extra
resources for the successful completion of these projects.

Modified Gadgil Formula

The formula was modified on the eve of the formulation of the Sixth Plan. The 10 percent indicator for ongoing power
and irrigation projects was dropped and the share of per capita income was increased to 20 percent, to be distributed
to those states whose per capita incomes were below the national average.
Gadgil-Mukerjee formula
Criteria

Weight (% )

Population

55

Per Capita Income

25

Fiscal Management 5
Special Problems

15

Total

100

PDS (Khera and Dreze)

1. TN has a universal PDS where every household is entitled to 20 kg rice per month. Other states like AP,
HP, Kerala, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha too are moving towards a universal PDS. Universal PDS not
only avoids costly exclusion errors but also improves functioning since there is more public pressure to
perform. The performance pressure has only increased following the growing divergence between the
PDS prices and market prices.
2. Between 204-05 and 2009-10, the quantity of wheat and rice purchased per household from PDS has
gone up by 50%. The proportion of households purchasing at least some rice and wheat has gone up from
27% in 2004-05 to 45% in 2009-10. The PDS subsidy is equivalent to Rs. 250 p.m. which is significant
for poor households.
3. PDS overall has reduced the Tendulkar poverty gap by 18% in 2009-10 but the performance of TN is
50% reduction AP + Chattisgarh (40% each), HP and Kerala (35% each). Rajasthan has moved towards
a universal PDS only after 2009-10. In states which cling to TPDS (UP, Bengal, MP, Jharkhand, Bihar),
PDS's impact has only been < 15%.
4. PDS also has stabilizing impact on poor by providing credible security, improves nutritional outcomes
(specially when other commodities are included in PDS_.

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