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Development History of BWR and PWR

Advanced Nuclear Reactors Design  Light water reactors 80.5% of the total number of nuclear units in
operation worldwide are LWRs. Advanced LWRs are being developed
and Features over a large range of power levels.
Some examples of large evolutionary LWR designs are:
• ABWR and the ABWR-II of General Electric (GE), USA, and Hitachi
Course No: NEOP 4201 and Toshiba, Japan;
• APWR of Westinghouse, USA and Mitsubishi, Japan and the APWR+
Department of Nuclear Engineering of Mitsubishi;
Dhaka University • BWR 90+ of Westinghouse Atom, Sweden;
• EPR and the SWR-1000 of Framatome ANP, France and Germany;
• ESBWR of GE, USA;
Dr. Md. Abdul Malek Soner
• AP-1000 of Westinghouse, USA;
CSO & Director
• WWER-1000 and the WWER-1500 of Atomenergoproject and
Center for Research Reactor Gidropress, Russia;
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission • KSNP+ and the APR-1400 of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power and the
mamalek90@yahoo.com Korean Nuclear Industry, the Republic of Korea; and
• CNP-1000 of China National Nuclear Corporation, China.
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Development History of BWR and PWR Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

 These are reactors cooled and
BWR:
moderated by water
 The water is allowed to boil in the
reactor pressure vessel
 Inside BWR vessel, a steam
water mixture is produced when
water (reactor coolant) moves
upward through the core.
 The steam-water mixture leaves
the top of the core and enters the
two stages of moisture
separation, where water droplets
are removed before the steam is
allowed to enter the steam line.
 The steam turn the turbine with
attached electrical generator to
produce electricity.

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Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

BWR Features

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

Recirculation System
• To provide forced circulation of coolant
• To control reactor power by changing
recirculation flow. Recirculation Flow Schematic
(Typical)

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Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

BWR Evolution

Ref. ESBWR by GEH

Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)

• The RBMK is a "High Power
Evolution of BWR Reactor Pressure Vessel Channel-type Reactor“.
• RBMK is an early Generation II
reactor and the oldest
commercial reactor design still in
wide operation
• Graphite moderated BWR.
The updates are:
• An increase in fuel enrichment
from 2% to 2.4% to compensate
for control rod modifications and
the introduction of additional
absorbers.
• Manual control rod count
increased from 30 to 45.
• 80 additional absorbers inhibit
operation at low power, where
the RBMK design is most
dangerous.
• SCRAM (rapid shut down)
sequence reduced from 18 to 12
seconds etc.

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Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
Advanced and proven Gen III+ reactor operating in General Features of ABWR
the world.
 Safe, Reliable and Cost competitive;
 Simplified Systems with High Operability;
 Short and Credible Construction;
 Design Certified by the US-NRC, 1997;
 First License approved in 1991;

Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
ABWR Inherent Safety Features Key Technologies

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Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
ABWR Core Arrangement Key Specification of ABWR

Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)

The Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor Comparison of ABWR and ESBWR
(ESBWR) is a 1520 MWe Generation III+ boiling
water reactor. Certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) in 2014, the ESBWR is the
world’s safest light water reactor.
• ESBWR, provides improved safety, faster
construction and lowers operating costs.
• Residual heat transferred to the atmosphere
• 11 systems eliminated from previous designs
• 25 percent of pumps, valves and motors eliminated

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Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)

Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)
Design features of ESBWRs
ESBWR: Safer, Simpler, Smarter

The ESBWR design objectives are-

• 60 year plant life from the date of full power operating license;
• 92% or greater plant availability;
• 12-24 month refueling intervals;
• Lower value of personnel radiation exposure;
• Safety related functions primarily through passive means;
• Significant release frequency from all events (internal and
external) limited to 5 x 10-8 per reactor year;
• It has the lowest core damage frequency (less than 10-6 per
reactor year) of any Generation III or III+ reactor and can safely
cool itself with no AC electrical power or human action for more
than seven days.

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Questions? Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Comparison key features of BWRs
How Control the Reactivity in BWR?

Sort-term control of reactivity is provided by

recirculation flow
control rods
Flow adjustment is preferred as a reactivity control mechanism
Power changes up to 25% may be employed by the flow
adjustment.

Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

PWR manufactures include:  PWR is the most common
types of commercial reactor
• Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and was initially developed in
the US for submarine
• Combustion Engineering (CE) propulsion.
 In a PWR, water at 150 times
• Framatome atmospheric pressure is
used as a coolant.
• Kraftwerk Union  The high pressure keeps the
water from boiling and at a
• Siemens heat exchanging device
known as a steam generator,
• Mitsubishi  A separate stream of water is
heated in a secondary closed
• Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) circuit at about 70 times
atmospheric pressure and
• Westinghouse 280°C to produce steam to
drive a turbine-generator
which produces electricity.

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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

• The Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) has 3
separate cooling loops.
• Only 1 is expected to have radioactivity - the
Reactor Coolant System.
• The PWR is the most common commercial
reactor type in the world, with more than half of
the commercial reactors in the world being PWRs.

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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

Reactor Pressure Vessel and Internals

RPV Reactor
Core Shroud/Baffle Assembly
Core Barrel
Fuel Assembly
- Fuel Rods
- Control Rods
- Incore Instrumentation

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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
Reactor Vessel
Fabricated from low alloy steel forgings, clad with
austenitic stainless steel;
Consists of cylindrical section of two shells,
hemispherical lower head and flanged removable
(bolted) hemispherical upper head;
The reactor vessel is typically about 12 m long,
ID of about 4 m and wall thickness ~ 200 mm
Weight ~ 400 tons
No penetrations below the top of the core
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
Reactor Fuel Assembly:
• Zircalloy cladding
• UO2 fuel
• No boiling in core
• 16x16 or 17x17 arays
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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
Reactor Core
Fuel assemblies;
Each fuel assembly consist of fuel rods arranged
in a hexagonal or square geometry;
Location(s) for incore instrumentation;
Locations for control rods;
Clad material is Zirconium-Niobium alloy;
Fuel enrichment < 5 %.
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
Control Rod
Large no. of Control Rods
Absorber
 Silver-Indium-Cadmium
 Boron Carbide and AIC
 Boron Carbide & Dysprosium Titanate
Control and shut down functions
Control Rod ejection postulated
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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

Burnable Absorber Rod (BAR) Core Instrumentation
Purpose In-core instrumentation
• To reduce boron content in coolant • SPNDs
• To ensure negative coolant temperature coefficient of • Core outlet thermocouples
reactivity • Flux mapping
• To reduce required movable control (safer rod ejection Ex-core instrumentation
accident scenario) • Temperature measurement in the cold and hot legs of RCS
Absorbers used loop
• Boron • Ex-core neutron flux measurement
• Gd
BAR form
• Boride coated fuel pellets
• Fuel pellets containing gadolinium oxide mixed with UO2

Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

Reactor Coolant System Safety Systems
• Emergency core cooling
• Containment cooling
• SBO handling
• Anticipated Transients Without Scram (ATWS)
mitigation

• Severe accident management

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Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

Configuration of Safety Systems Containment
• Active Systems – 4 Trains • Double containment with liner for primary
• Active systems with Passive systems back up containment;
• Passive systems • Last barrier to prevent escape of radioactivity
from reactor;
Passive Heat Removal System • Usually made of reinforced concrete or steel;
Passive heat removal system is designed for long- • Designed to withstand high pressures;
term removal of residual heat of reactor during Station
Black Out. • Extensively tested for structural integrity.

Gen III Reactors (Advanced Reactors) VVER-1000 Power Reactor

• Advanced BWR
• AP-1000 (PWR)
• Advanced Heavy Water Reactor
• Pebble Bed

Make sure you know:

• General design schematic
• Advantages/disadvantages
• How these reactor types differ from Gen II

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Core/Corium
Catcher

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VVER-1000 Power Reactor Advanced Power Reactor (APR)

The APR-1400 is an advanced
Pressurizer PWR designed by the KEPCO. It
is also known as the Korean
Steam Generator Next Generation Reactor
(KNGR). This Gen-III was
Pump developed from the earlier OPR-
1000 design. Currently there is
one unit in operation ( Shin Kori
unit 3) and seven units under Barakah 1&2 under construction in the
construction, four in the UAE at UAE.
Barakah and three in Korea: one
at Shin Kori and two at Shin
Pressure Vessel Hanul. Two more units are
PWR VVER planned with construction yet to
45 commence at Shin Kori.

Advanced Power Reactor (APR) Advanced Power Reactor (APR)

AP-1000
• The AP1000 is an advanced
1117 to 1154 MWe nuclear
power plant that uses the
forces of nature and
simplicity of design to
enhance plant safety and
operations and reduce
construction costs.
• It is an extension of the AP-
600.

APR1400 schematic

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Advanced Power Reactor (APR) Advanced Power Reactor (APR)

AP-1000 Simplicity AP-1000

• The passive safety systems are significantly simpler than

the traditional PWR safety systems.
• Simplification of plant systems, combined with increased
plant operating margins, reduces the actions required by
the operator.
• Simplifications include:
– 50 percent fewer valves
– 83 percent less piping
– 87 percent less control cable
– 35 percent fewer pumps
– 50 percent less seismic building volume

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Advanced Power Reactor (APR) Advanced Power Reactor (APR)

AP-1000 AP-1000 Passivity and Safety
• The AP1000 design uses passive safety systems to enhance
the safety of the plant and to satisfy the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s (NRC) safety criteria.
• These systems use only natural forces, such as gravity,
natural circulation and compressed gas. No pumps, fans,
diesels, chillers, or other rotating machinery are used in the
passive safety sub-systems.
• The passive safety systems include passive safety injection,
passive residual heat removal and passive containment
cooling.
• The passive safety systems are significantly simpler than the
traditional PWR safety systems.
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Advanced Power Reactor (APR) Advanced Power Reactor (APR)

AP-1000/600 Containment AP-1000 Construction
• Like the AP600, the AP1000
utilizes modularization
technique for construction,
which allows many construction
activities to proceed in parallel.
• The AP1000 has a site
construction schedule of
36 months from first concrete to
fuel loading.

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Advanced Power Reactor (APR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)

AP-1000 Licensing • Heavy-Water Reactors
• On September 13, 2004, the United States Nuclear • Advanced Heavy-Water Reactors
Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) granted a Final
Design Approval (FDA) to Westinghouse for the AP1000 • Advanced Designs
advanced reactor design. The approval is good for five • Major Design Features
years.
• Fuel Assembly
• The U.S. NRC agency anticipates issuing a standard
Design Certification in the form of an Appendix to • Reactor Pile Block
10CFR52. If granted, a Design Certification would be • Heat Transport System
good for 15 years and renewable in terms of 10 to
• Safety and Protection Systems
15 years.
• Economics

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
• Natural Uranium (0.7% - 235U) • Generation III
– Simple/more rugged design
• Heavy-Water (Deuterium- D2O) – Longer operating life
– Moderator
– Reduced possibility of core accidents
– Coolant
– Reduce capital costs
• 44 commercial Heavy-Water Reactors
– 6 Countries • Two main countries working on Advanced Heavy-
• Canada, Japan, Argentina, India , Pakistan and Romania Water Reactors
– 300 MWe-1000MWe – Canada – (Advanced Candu Reactor)
– India – (Advanced Heavy-Water Reactor)

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
• The CANDU reactor
Advanced Designs
design (or PHWR –
Pressurized Heavy Water
• Main Cooling System
Reactor) has been – Boiling light-water under natural circulation
developed since the
1950s in Canada. • Thorium based fuel
– (Th+Pu)O2
• CANDU Reactors are – (Th+233U)O2
heavy water cooled and
moderated PWRs.
• Passive Safety Systems
• PHWRs generally use – 2 Containment Structures
natural uranium (0.7% U- – Emergency Core Cooling System
235) oxide as fuel, hence
needs a more efficient • Economics
moderator, in this case – Reduce Capital Costs
heavy water (D2O).

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
Major Design Features (cont.)
Major Design Features
• Reactor Power • Coolant
– 300 MWe – Boiling light-water

• Vertical Calandria • Fuel

– (Th+Pu)O2
• Pressure Tube Type Design – (Th+233U)O2
– Allows separation of moderator and coolant
– Building block with wide limits to meet any power level • On-power refueling
– 6 assemblies per month
• Moderator
– Heavy-Water (Deuterium-D2O)

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
CANDU-9 Containment Fuel Assembly
• 452 out of 500 channels are
loaded with fuel clusters each
• Pre-stressed Concrete with:
– 24 fuel pins: (Th+Pu)O2
• Steel Lined – 30 fuel pins: (Th+233U)O2

• Remaining 48 channels are

• Reserve Water Tank loaded with fuel clusters were
all 54 fuel pins are:
– (Th+233U)O2

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
Safety and Protection Systems Economics
• 2 Containment Structures
• Reduce Capital Costs
– Replacement of heavy-water coolant with light-water
• 2 Concrete Vaults
– Minimizing dependence on active systems like primary
coolant pumps due to natural circulation
• Control Rods with B4C (Primary shut off system)
– 36 shut off rods
– 12 adjuster rods • Utilization of heat generated in moderator for feed
water heating to improve overall plant thermal
efficiency
• Burnable Poison (Secondary shut off system)
– Gadolinium nitrate solution

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Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors

Overview History
• The AVR was the first
• History operational Pebble Bed
• Fuel Reactor.
• First Criticality
• Basic Core Design
– August 26th, 1966
• Power Plant Designs • Design goals:
• Environmental Impact – Simple / Safe
– Commoditized Fuel
• Deployment Plans
– Combined Fuel,
HRT-10 Pebble Bed Reactor in China Moderator, Structure, The Arbeitsgemeinschaft
• “Meltdown-Proof”
and Containment in Versuchsreaktor (AVR) in Jülich,
each pebble sphere Germany

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Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors

Fuel
Fuel
• Each sphere contains tens
• ~360,000 60mm diameter of thousands of
fuel-spheres microspheres, each
• ~350 waste spheres per day containing uranium and
graphite.
• Enrichment: 8% 235U
• TRISO Fuel
• Self-Contained • The Graphite Carbon both
Several fuel spheres next
• 15 Average Core Cycles to a Tennis ball absorbs heat and
moderates neutrons.
Fuel Sphere Cut-Out Drawing
• No need for Fuel Rods or
Assemblies

Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors

Basic Core Designs Power Plant Designs

• Helium passes through the • Since Helium is a noble gas
and has a magic atomic
core and travels to the structure, it does not absorb
turbine. neutrons.
• This allows the helium to be
• Automated systems handle run directly through the
fuel management Turbine
• Most modern designs utilize
• Reactivity control by helium this feature and depend
flow rate, in some designs, solely on the Brayton cycle
which can yield 50%
control rods are used for efficiency as opposed to the
shutdown purposes. standard 33%
• Safety Features
• There are many different 3 Loop Pebble Bed Power Plant
pebble bed reactor designs.

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Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors

Environmental Impact
• Some critics are
concerned at the volume
of High-Level Waste
• Chernobyl-type accidents
virtually impossible
• Waste not as hazardous
• Ceramic material
functions as containment Nuclear Power Plant Emitting Steam
vessel for storage plans

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Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors Small and Medium Sized Reactors (SMRs)
 Small reactors are reactors with the equivalent electric power less than
300 MW;
Deployment Plans  Medium sized reactors are reactors with the equivalent electric power
between 300 and 700 MW.
• South Africa’s Active
 The attractive features of innovative SMRs that might facilitate their
Development
progress in certain energy markets are as follows:
• Pebble Bed Reactors in • Fitness for small electricity grids, including an option of autonomous
China operation;
• Lower absolute overnight capital costs, as compared to large
• Successful Test Units capacity plants;
• An option of incremental capacity increase that could perfectly meet
– HTR-10 the incremental increase of demand and minimize financial risk to
the investor; and
• Licensing Approvals
• Reduced design complexity, reduced impact of human factors, and,
Worldwide Reactor Placement perhaps, reduced operation and maintenance requirements, which
altogether could make SMRs a perfect vehicle to support local
manufacturing and constructing industries as well as local and
regional academic institutions in developing countries.
Ref: IAEA Tecdoc 1485

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Fundamentals of SMR Designs

Small reactors without on-site refueling should have the following
essential features:
• Capability to operate without refueling for a reasonably long period
consistent with the plant economics and energy security;
• Minimum inventory of fresh and spent fuel being stored at the site
outside the reactor during its service life;
• Enhanced level of safety, consistent with the scale of global
deployment of such reactors, through wider implementation of
inherent and passive safety features and systems;
• Economic competitiveness for anticipated market conditions and
applications;
• Difficult unauthorized access to fuel during the whole period of its
presence at the site and during transportation, and design provisions
to facilitate the implementation of safeguards;
• The capability to achieve higher manufacturing quality through
factory mass production, design standardization and common basis
for design certification.

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