Nuclear Power Plants

Table: The General Features of Different Nuclear Power Plant Types in Operation

Plant type/ PWR BWR Boiling PHWR LWGR GCR (LM) FBR Fast
Feature Pressurized light water Pressurized light water gas cooled, Breeder reactor
light water moderated heavy water cooled, graphite graphite
moderated and and cooled moderated and moderated moderated
cooled reactor reactor cooled reactor reactor reactor
Fuel Material LEUa LEUa Natural LEUa with Natural Plutonium mixed
MOXb MOX Uranium thorium Uranium with natural or
LEUa depleted uranium
Fissile material Converter Converter Converter Converter Converter Breeder
production
Moderator Light-water Light-water Heavy-water Graphite Graphite None
material
Neutron energy Thermal Thermal Thermal Thermal Thermal Fast
Reactor coolant Light-water Light-water Heavy-water Light-water Carbon Liquid Metal
dioxide
Number in 278 80 49 15 15 2
Operation
Main Countries USA, France, USA, Japan, Canada Russia UK Russia
Japan, Russia, Sweden
China

aLEU stays for Low Enrichment Uranium

bMOX stays for Mixed Oxide fuel, usually consists of plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium 2
3
4
5
6
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Nuclear Fuel Cycle–Enrichment

8
Gaseous Diffusion Process

Average velocities of gas molecules at a given temperature depended

upon their masses. Therefore, in a gas made-up of molecules
containing different isotopes, molecules containing the lighter isotope
will, on average, have velocities a little faster than those containing
the heavier isotope.
It is this small but useful velocity difference which the gaseous
diffusion process utilizes.
If the gaseous mixture is forced under pressure against a suitable
porous “barrier,” more of the lighter molecules will flow through the
pores due to their higher velocity.
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To maximize the amount of separation pore sizes must be such that
individual molecules collide only with the pore walls rather than with
each other.
Diffusive flow requires not only small barrier pores (less than two-
millionths of an inch in diameter), but also uniformity of pore size.
Because the amount of separation by one pass through barrier material
is dependent on the difference in mass of the molecules, very small
gaseous mixtures of U-235 and U-238 must undergo this diffusion
process many times for meaningful separation.
The gaseous compound used to carry out the diffusion is uranium
hexafluoride (UF6).
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UF6 is extremely reactive with water, very corrosive to most common
metals, and incompatible with organic materials (e.g., lubricating oils).
This chemical activity dictates the use of metals such as nickel and
aluminum. The corrosiveness of the process gas also makes barrier
production more difficult because the barrier quality must be
maintained over many years of operation.
The basic concept of gaseous diffusion is illustrated the following
Figure 1. The diffusion takes place in any single stage in the process
system. Gaseous UF6 is introduced into the diffuser under pressure and
made to flow along the inside of barrier tubes. About one-half of the
gas diffuses through the barrier and is fed to the next higher stage. The
remaining undiffused portion is recycled to the next lower stage. 11
Figure 1. Gaseous diffusion stage

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The diffused stream is slightly enriched with respect to U-235, and the
undiffused stream is depleted of U-235 to the same degree.
Single stages are connected together so as to accomplish significant
enrichment. Axial flow compressors are used in the larger stages to
compress the gas to maintain the inter stage flow. A gas cooler is
incorporated in each converter to remove the heat of gas compression.

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Gas Centrifuge Process
A gas centrifuge as shown in the Figure 2. comprises an evacuated
casing containing a cylindrical rotor which rotates at high speed in an
almost friction-free environment and into which gaseous UF6 is fed.
It works with the small difference in molecular weight between UF6
molecules containing the U-235 atom and those containing the U-238
atoms.
The difference is exploited by imposing an artificial gravitational field
on the gaseous mixture of the two isotopes, creating a radial
concentration gradient which then becomes an axial gradient with
countercurrent flow on the inner part in one direction and along the
wall in the opposite direction. 14
The degree of enrichment in a single centrifuge machine is dependent
upon the mass difference of the isotopes being separated, the length of
the rotator, and the speed of rotation.
The UF6 introduced near the center of the rotor accelerates to
approximately the speed of the rotor. Centrifugal force causes the
heavier U-238 molecules to move closer to the wall of the rotor,
producing partial separation of the U-235 and U-238 isotopes. This
separative effect is increased by an axial countercurrent flow of gas
within the rotor. The enriched UF6 is removed through a scoop at the
top, and the depleted through a scoop at the bottom. Because the
desired enrichment is not obtained in a single centrifuge, several
machines must be connected in a series, known as a “cascade”. 15
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Only a small amount of gas will flow through a single centrifuge.
Therefore, many machines must be connected in parallel to achieve the
total flow necessary for a large capacity plant.

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Reactor Safety
 While their safety record is quite good when compared to fossil
fuel plants, the North American public generally views nuclear
power plants as dangerous.
 A small portion of this concern is justified, but almost all of it is
based on fear and ignorance.
 Only issues related to mining of uranium and the potential of a
catastrophic accident are mentioned here.
Types of Reactors
The vast majority of the nuclear power units in service for
commercial electricity production (about 80%) are equipped with
light-water reactors (LWRs), which use light water as both coolant
and moderator.
There are two main types of LWRs:
 Pressurized-water reactor (PWRs)
 Boiling-water reactor (BWRs)

To illustrate, we can identify the components and their functions in

a modern PWR as shown in the Figure 1.
Figure 1: PWR system flow diagram
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Figure: PWR system flow diagram

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The fresh fuel installed in a typical PWR consists of cylindrical
pellets (using sintering method) of slightly enriched (3% U-235)
uranium oxide (UO2) of diameter approximately 3/8 in (≈ 1 cm) and
length approximately 0.6 in (≈1.5 cm).
A zircaloy tube of wall thickness 0.025 in (≈ 0.6 mm) is filled the
pellets to an active length of 12 ft. (≈360 cm) and sealed to form a
fuel rod (or pin).
The metal tube serves to
•provide support for the column of pellets
•provide cladding that retains radioactive fission products
•protect the fuel from interaction with the coolant
BWR fuel module
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Thousands of fuel pins composed of enriched UO2 in Zircaloy tubes.
They are arranged in square subassembly arrays of 8 x 8 to 10 x 10
pins.
Four subassemblies each contained in a Zircaloy shroud, make up a
fuel module.
Subassemblies are individually orificed to control water/steam flow
and assure a uniform elevation at which boiling commences and a
uniform steam quality as coolant leaves the core.
In contrast, PWR fuel assemblies are open.
The four subassemblies in a fuel module are separated by cruciform-
shaped control blades that hydraulically driven in from the bottom of
the core upwards.
Thousands of fuel pins composed of enriched UO2 in Zircaloy tubes.
They are arranged in square subassembly arrays of 8 x 8 to 10 x 10
pins.
Four subassemblies each contained in a Zircaloy shroud, make up a
fuel module.
Subassemblies are individually orificed to control water/steam flow
and assure a uniform elevation at which boiling commences and a
uniform steam quality as coolant leaves the core.
In contrast, PWR fuel assemblies are open.
The four subassemblies in a fuel module are separated by cruciform-
shaped control blades that hydraulically driven in from the bottom of
the core upwards.
After passing through the core, water that has not been vaporized
must be recirculated back to the bottom of the core. This is done by
means of jet pumps located around the periphery of the core.
Feed water enters the RPV at a height above the top of the core. The
combined effects of the recirculating and jet pumps force liquid water
into the reactor core from the bottom. The saturated steam is
processed by steam separators and dryers located above the core to
remove moisture from the vapor that is sent to the high-pressure
turbine. Steam conditioning systems above the core is one reason that
the control blades enter the core at its base. The lower density steam
in the upper portion provides less moderation compared to the liquid
water in the lower regions of the core.
Figure: Schematic of a typical BWR
Natural Uranium Heavy Water-Moderated and –Cooled Reactors
:Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) pressurized heavy-water
reactor (PHWR)
The main generic disadvantage of all LWRs is the use of enriched
uranium, calling for either international supply or domestic industrial
enrichment capability.
CANDU is the most efficient of all reactors in using uranium: it uses
about 15% less uranium than a pressurized water reactor for each
megawatt of electricity produced.
In CANDU reactors, the moderator and coolant (both heavy water)
are spatially separated: the moderator is in a large tank (calandria), in
which there are pressure tubes surrounding the fuel assemblies.
Figure: CANDU system diagram
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Each bundle has about 28 elements. There are about 4860 bundles in
total with 12 or 13 such bundles in each pressure tube (for 500 MW
plant)
The advantage of this construction is that the whole tank need not be
kept under high pressure. The coolant flows in these tubes only.
It is sufficient to pressurize the coolant flowing in the tubes. This
arrangement is called pressurized tube reactor made of Zircaloy alloy.
Warming up of the moderator is much less than that of the coolant.
The high temperature and high pressure coolant, similarly to PWRs,
goes to the steam generator where it boils the secondary side light
water. Another advantage of this type is that fuel can be replaced during
operation and thus there is no need for outages.
Reactor shutdown
Current HWR designs have two diverse, independent, fast-acting,
equally effective shutdown systems, referred to as Shutdown System 1
(SDS1) and SDS2.
SDS1 utilizes spring-loaded mechanical shutoff (absorber) rod
mechanisms.
Upon receipt of a reactor trip signal, an electromagnetic clutch in each
mechanism is de-energized, releasing a stainless steel-clad cadmium
absorber element that drops into the moderator under gravity.
SDS1 is the primary method of quickly shutting down the reactor in an
accident.