9 NUCLEAR 101

Nuclear Science
and Energy
 Nuclear 101
Nuclear Science and Energy

A Resource Material for Secondary Students and Science Teachers

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 Table of Contents
Nuclear Power as an Energy Resource 2

Wonders of Nuclear Power 3

Basic Principles of Nuclear Energy 8

Atoms to Electricity 14

Nuclear Plants in the World 27

Nuclear Fuel Cycle 33

Nuclear Safety 41

Hi there! I’m Radia! In this

booklet, you will learn about:
1. How nuclear energy is used
to generate electricity
2. The nuclear fuel cycle; and
3. The safety features of
nuclear power plants
Nuclear Power as an
Energy Source
Nuclear power was once regarded as the utopian (perfect) source of energy
as it promises to solve a lot of humanity’s problems in the second half of
the 20th century. However, this technology fell short of reaching the heights
envisioned by the pioneers of the atomic age. Throughout the decades of
harnessing nuclear energy, it was revealed that this technology comes along
with a lot of scientific and engineering challenges, and equally important is
the social impact it has on modern society.

Explaining the basic concepts about nuclear energy and nuclear power
plant technology is necessary to understand and appreciate the scientific
principles and engineering basis behind it. It is only through the lens of
verifiable information and thorough understanding can one form his/her
independent opinion about the benefit and harm of nuclear power.

2 NUCLEAR 101
 Wonders of Nuclear
Power
What makes nuclear power an attractive source
of electricity?
1. Nuclear power is among the safest sources of electricity.
Fig. 1 shows deaths from accidents and air-pollution related effects resulting
from electricity generation. Coal, oil, and lignite, which are examples of
fossil fuels, were found to have the most significant negative health effect
causing close to 7 million premature deaths annually due to air pollution [1].
Among the types of fuel which has a small health burden is natural gas and
biomass. Even when all cancer-related deaths from nuclear accidents are
considered, nuclear power is still by far the least dangerous energy source!

40
Deaths from air pollution and accidents (TWh)

Lignite
30
Coal

20
Oil

10
Biomass
Gas
0 Nuclear

0 500 1000 1500

Equivalent CO2 emissions (g/kwh)

Fig. 1 Health effects of electricity generation per TWhi (image adapted from [2]).

i 1 TWh = 1 billion KWh (kilowatt-hour). This is a measure of total electricity produced

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 3

The findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) show
that in terms of health, nuclear power is among the best performers,
together with solar, wind, and hydro for having low health impact [1].

Solar thermal
Ozone depletion
Solar PV
Human toxicity

Wind - offshore Ionizing radiation

Particulate matter formation

Wind - onshore
Photochemical oxidant formation
Biomass

Hydro

Gas (CC) - CCS

Gas (CC)

Coal - CCS

Coal

Nuclear

0 100 200 300 400

Fig. 2. Life cycle human health impact (in Disability Adjusted Life Years [DALYs] per
TWh)ii of electricity technologiesiii (image adapted from [1]).

2. Nuclear power helps combat climate change

The effects of climate change can be felt today with more droughts and
heat waves, stronger typhoons, intense flooding, rising sea level, ocean
acidification, and loss of biodiversity.

It is widely accepted by the scientific community that climate change is

caused by the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), and other
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities.

40% of the total CO2 emissions due to human activities come from burning
fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) for electricity generation [3]. Nuclear
power is among the cleanest sources of electricity (refer to Fig. 3), having
no direct CO2 emission. Indirect emissions from nuclear power come from
using fossil fuels in uranium mining, and enrichment, and this is even lower
compared to the indirect emissions of solar photovoltaics.

ii Disability adjusted life years – number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death
iii CC
– combined cycle, PV – photovoltaics, CSP – concentrated solar power, CCS – carbon capture and
storage

4 NUCLEAR 101
 LIGNITE
with FGD,high
with FGD,low
COAL
with FGD,high
with FGD,low
with CCS
HEAVY FUEL OIL
low NOx
combined cycle
NATURAL GAS CC
high
low
with SCR
with CCS
PHOTOVOLTAIC
high
low
HYDRO
high
low
BIOMASS
high
low Direct imissions
WIND Indirect emissions

offshore ,high FGD: flue gas desulphurisation

offshore, low CC: combined cycle
CCS: carbon capture and storage
onshore, high
SCR: selective catalytic reduction
onshore, low
NUCLEAR
high
low

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400

Tonnes CO2 eq./GWh

Fig. 3 Direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from various electricity generation systems
(image adapted from [3]).

45%
Low carbon total

30%

Hydropower

15%
Nuclear

Other renewables

0%
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Fig. 4 Share of low-carbon technology in global electricity generation (image

adapted from [1]).

Fig. 4 shows that nuclear power is a key contributor to clean energy

production worldwide, avoiding about 2 billion tons of CO2 emissions each
year. This is equivalent to removing 400 million cars off the road [4]!

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 5

3. Nuclear is the most reliable energy source
Among clean energy sources, only nuclear and hydropower are base load
sources which can supply electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other
renewable energy sources like solar and wind are intermittent, since solar
power is completely absent at night, and wind does not blow at the same
intensity. These variable sources need to be paired with base load power, in
which nuclear power can take a role.

Capacity factor tells how often a power plant can produce its maximum
power output within the year. To illustrate, a plant with capacity factor of
100% operates at its full capacity for the entire year.

Referring to Fig. 5, nuclear power has the highest capacity factor compared
to any other energy source, producing its maximum output 92% of the
time during the year. Nuclear power plants are online almost all the time
because they require less refueling (only after every 1.5 or 2 years) and less
maintenance.

92% Capacity
Factor

COAL NATURAL NUCLEAR SOLAR WIND

GAS 27%
54% 37%
55%

Fig. 5 Capacity factors for utility scale generators in the US in 2018 ( image adapted
from [5]).

Differences in capacity factors imply that to generate the same amount

of electricity for the entire year, a single nuclear power plant having 1 GW
maximum power output, is equivalent to almost two coal plants or about
three renewable energy plants (each with 1 GWiv maximum power output).

iv 1 gigawatt (GW) = 1 billion watts.

6 NUCLEAR 101
 4. Nuclear fuel is extremely energy dense
A comparison of the energy equivalent of nuclear fuel with other fuel types
is shown in Fig. 6. A lot of energy is packed in such a small quantity of nuclear
fuel. This means the waste generated is also significantly less than other
fuel types.

1 URANIUM
FUEL PELLET 1 TON
of
Coal

The Size of a Pencil Eraser

149
GALLONS
of
Oil

PROVIDES
AS MUCH
ENERGY 17,000
CUBIC FEET
AS of
Natural Gas

Fig. 6 Comparison of energy content of a single Uranium pellet (image adapted from [6]).

To give another example, powering an average household for an entire year

requires 890 kg of oil, or 1,100 kg of coal, or 1,000 cubic meters of gas, or a
measly 7 g of Uranium (this amount will fit in your tablespoon) [7]!

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 7

Basic Principles of
Nuclear Energy
What is an atom and what are its parts?
Everything around us is made up of atoms. Atoms are the building blocks
of matter, and they are the smallest part of any element that has all the
properties of that element.

Initially thought to be indivisible, the atom is actually made up of subatomic

particles. These are the positively-charged protons, negatively-charged
electrons, and uncharged neutrons. The modern picture of an atom
depicts its center, called the nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of electrons.
The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons and for this reason these
particles are called nucleons.

- Proton

-
-
- Electron
+
+
Nucleus +
+
-
+
-
-
-
Neutron

Fig. 7 Modern atomic model with the nucleus (containing protons and neutrons) surrounded by
electrons (image adapted from [8]).

8 NUCLEAR 101
 What are nuclides and isotopes?
Nuclides are the various species of a nucleus containing a unique
combination of protons and neutrons. Hydrogen-1, oxygen-16, aluminum-27,
and bismuth-209v are examples of nuclides. Elements are identified based
on the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.

Isotopes are nuclides that have the same number of protons, hence same
element, but differs in the number of neutrons. Isotopes have the same
chemical properties but may differ in their nuclear properties. Hydrogen-1,
hydrogen-2 (Deuterium), and hydrogen-3 (Tritium) are examples of isotopes
of hydrogen.

To illustrate further, uranium, the heaviest natural element, always has 92

protons in the nucleus, but can have more than 123 neutrons depending on
which isotope. Uranium that is found in nature is 99.2739% uranium-238
(U-238), 0.7205% uranium-235 (U-235), and 0.0056% uranium-234 (U-234).

URANIUM-238 URANIUM-235

92 protons 146 neutrons 92 protons 143 neutrons

Fig. 8 The major isotopes of Uranium are U-238 and U-235 (image adapted from [9]).

v The number after the name of the chemical element is the Mass number. Mass number is the sum
of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Bismuth-209 has 83 protons and 126 neutrons
(83+126=209)

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 9

Why do only certain types of nuclides exist?
Inside the nucleus, the protons are repelling each other because
electromagnetic forcevi is repulsive when particles have the same charge.
However, the strong nuclear force glues them together with the neutrons in
a fine balance of the number of protons and the number of neutrons. These
forces dictate whether a nucleus can be formed for a certain combination of
protons and neutrons.

+ +

Fig. 9 Strong nuclear force binds the nucleons together by overcoming the
repulsive force between protons.

What is a nuclear reaction?

All chemical reactions involve the exchange or sharing of electrons between
different kinds of atoms. In contrast, nuclear reactions involve interactions
between two nucleivii or between a nucleus and a nucleon.

Deuterium Helium
+
+ +

+
+ +

Energy

+
Tritium Neutron
Fig. 10 Hydrogen-2 (Deuterium) colliding with Hydrogen-3 (Tritium) produces Helium-4, a neutron,
and substantial amount of energy (image adapted from [11]).

vi There is no electromagnetic force between a proton and a neutron because neutrons do not have charge.
vii Nuclei – plural of nucleus

10 NUCLEAR 101
 What is fission and how was it discovered?
Take again uranium as an example. In its nucleus, there are 92 protons
that push each other apart, but the strong nuclear force barely holds them
together with the neutrons to form the nucleus. It can be imagined that
giving the uranium nucleus just a little nudge can be enough to break its
stability.

This is what exactly happened in December 1938 when Otto Hahnviii,

Lise Meitnerix, and Fritz Strassman cracked open the uranium nucleus.
They observed that when uranium is hit with a neutron, it splits into two
fragments, producing some more neutrons and gamma rays, and releasing
a large amount of energy. This process is called nuclear fission.

90
Sr
s
e nt
gm
fra
Fig. 11 Fission s ion
Fis
of Uranium-235 Released
y rays
after absorbing a (energy) neutrons
neutron (image
Neutron
adapted from
[3]). 235
U Nuclear
143
collision
Xe

Where does the energy released from fission

come from?
The energy released in nuclear fission was formerly what held the uranium
nucleus together. Looking at the total mass of the fission products and
emitted neutrons, we will find that this is slightly less than the mass of the
initial uranium nucleus. Where did the missing mass went to? It must have
been converted into energy, as Albert Einstein tells us.

Fig. 12 Albert Einstein received

the Nobel prize in Physics on
1921 “for his discovery of the
law of the photoelectric effect.”
(image adapted from [12]).

viii Otto Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel prize in Chemistry “for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei.”
xLise Meitner’s role in the discovery was not acknowledged at that time and she was not awarded the Nobel
prize, but her name would forever be immortalized by the chemical element Meitnerium.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 11

How much energy is released in a single fission
event?
During chemical reaction of combustion, only about 4 eVx of energy is
released per molecule of oxygen consumed. In comparison, the fission of a
single uranium nucleus releases approximately 200 MeV of energy, nearly
50 million times as much [13]!

Is Uranium the only element that can undergo

fission?
There are other elements, such as thorium, plutonium, curium, and
californium that can also undergo fission. They are collectively called
fissionable materials.

What is a nuclear fission chain reaction?

Splitting a single nucleus of uranium is not yet useable energy. Going back
to the fission process, starting with a single neutron, we can end up having 2
to 3 more being released. By having these excess neutrons hit other nearby
uranium nuclei, we can start a series of fission events called a nuclear
fission chain reaction.
92
36
Kr
1n
0

Energy 1n
0

141 1n
56
Ba 0

235
U
92
92 36
Kr
Kr 1n

Fig. 13 Nuclear fission

36 0
1n
0

chain reaction with U-235

Energy
1n
Energy 1n
0
as fissionable material
0

235
U
(image adapted from [14]).
235 u 1n
92 141 0
Neutron 1n 56
Ba
141
1n 56
Ba 0
0

92
36
Kr

1n
0

235
U

Energy 1n
0

141
56
Ba 1n
0

x eV stands for “electron-volt”. This is the energy unit typically used in atomic and nuclear physics. 1 eV =
1.602 × 10-19 J

12 NUCLEAR 101
How can we achieve a stable fission chain
reaction?
To harness nuclear energy in a steady and safe manner, the nuclear fission
chain reaction must be controlled so that it would not grow very fast. Devices
that are designed to achieve this are called nuclear reactors.

On December 2, 1942, a group of scientists led by Enrico Fermi achieved

the first self-sustaining (stable) fission chain reaction at the University of
Chicago by creating the world’s first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile # 1 (CP-1).
CP-1 is the forefather of the current nuclear reactors in the world.

Fig. 14 Painting portraying the experiment conducted by Fermi and his colleagues to achieve the first
steady-state fission chain reaction (image adapted from [15]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 13

Atoms to Electricity
What are nuclear power plants?
Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are nuclear reactors that are designed to
produce electricity. There is another class of nuclear reactors that is not
for electricity generation, but are used for research, medical, and industrial
applications, and these are called nuclear research reactors.

Fig. 15 Temelin Nuclear power plant in Czech Republic (image adapted from [16]).

Fig. 16 Japan Research Reactor-3 (JRR-3) operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
(image adapted from [17]).

14 NUCLEAR 101
 How does a nuclear power plant generate
electricity?
The working principle of a nuclear power plant does not differ that much from
a coal power plant. The main difference is in the heat source. A coal power
plant burns coal to produce heat, while a nuclear power plant uses fission to
generate heat. The way thermal energy is transformed into electrical energy
is the same for both power plants. The heat from the fuel turns water into
steam. This steam turns a turbine connected to the generator. The rotation
of the generator produces electricity.

What are the components of a nuclear power

plant?
Fig. 17 shows the diagram of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), the most
common type of NPP (other NPP types will be presented later). In a PWR,
there are three separate flow loops: a.) Primary/First loop, b.) Secondary
loop, and c.) Tertiary loop.

Fig. 17 Diagram of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), the most common type of nuclear power
plant (image adapted from [18]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 15

What is the primary loop?
The primary loop, also called the primary circuit, is the cluster of components
which enables nuclear energy to be transformed into thermal energy.

What are the components of the primary loop?

The primary loop is composed of the nuclear reactor, coolant, moderator,
primary coolant pump, and pressurizer.

Fig. 18 Components of the Primary/First loop (image adapted from [18]).

A. Nuclear Reactor

The heart of the primary loop is the Control

Rods
nuclear reactor. This is where the
fission chain reaction occurs, and is
composed of several parts.
Fuel
Assembles

Water
(Coolant
Moderator)
Fig. 19 The fission chain reaction occurs inside the
nuclear reactor (image adapted from [18]).
Pressure
Vessel

16 NUCLEAR 101
A-1. Nuclear Fuel
Uranium in the form of uranium dioxide (UO2) is used as fuel in most NPPs.
UO2 powder is pressed into pellets and baked at temperatures of 1,700°C to
produce a strong ceramic material (Refer to Fig. 20).

Fig. 20. Fuel pellets made of Uranium Dioxide (UO2) (image adapted from [19]).

When fission occurs inside the pellet, nuclear energy is shared among
the fission fragments and the neutrons that fly off with great kinetic
energies. Because of the interaction of the heavy fission fragments with the
surrounding atoms, they immediately lose their energy and are trapped in
the material matrix. This process heats up the fuel pellet.

Fuel pellets are loaded into 4-meter-long tubes of zircalloy or stainless steel
to form a fuel rod/fuel element. The fuel rods are bundled into a fuel
assembly, which can be hexagonal or square in shape depending on the
design. A single fuel assembly may contain 100-400 fuel rods.

Fig. 21 Fuel assembly with fuel

rods arranged in a 17x17 square
configuration (image adapted from
[20]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 17

 Several fuel assemblies which may
number from 200-800 are placed
into the reactor core, making in total
about 100 tons of uranium as fuel.

Fig. 22 The nuclear reactor core is the array of

fuel rods (image adapted from [21]).

A-2. Control elements/rods

Controls elements/rods are used to regulate the rate of fission inside
the nuclear reactor. They are made of materials that are strong neutron
absorbers. When inserted into the core, control rods absorb excess neutrons
resulting to a decrease in the rate of fission. When control rods are pulled
out of the core, the effect is reversed, and the rate of fission is increased.

The neutron absorber inside a control rod (see Fig. 23) can be boron,
cadmium, silver, indium, gadolinium, or hafnium. There could be up
to 200 control rods in a reactor core depending on the design. When an
abnormal condition occurs, the reactor automatically shuts down by
inserting all the control rods into the core, and stopping the fission chain
reaction in just a few seconds.

Fig. 23 Cruciform-type control rod (image adapted from [22]).

18 NUCLEAR 101
A-3. Reactor Pressure Vessel
The Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is the strong steel vessel which contains
the reactor core. The RPV is designed to withstand the enormous pressure
and high temperature during operation of an NPP. Its walls can be over 20
cm thick, and weighs more than 300,000 kgs.

Fig. 24 Reactor pressure vessel of Olkiluoto nuclear power plant Unit-3 in Finland
(image adapted from [23]).

B. Coolant

Coolant is the fluid that circulates through the reactor core to remove the
heat generated from the fuel and transport it outside of the nuclear reactor.
In a PWR, ordinary clean water is used as coolant.

C. Moderator

Moderator is the material that is used to slow down the high-energy

neutrons produced after fission. There is a need to moderate fast neutrons
to make them more likely to be absorbed by uranium and cause further
fission reactions. Moderators improve the “neutron economy” in a reactor.

Light nuclides (e.g. hydrogen-1, beryllium-9, and carbon-12) are effective in

slowing down neutrons through scattering collisions. An ideal moderator
slows down neutrons effectively, but unlikely to absorb them. In a PWR,
ordinary water also serves as moderator.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 19

D. Primary Coolant pump
This pump conveys and forcibly circulates the coolant through the nuclear
reactor to extract the thermal energy generated through nuclear fission.

Fig. 25 Manufacturing of the primary

coolant pump of Shidao Bay Nuclear
power plant in China (image adapted
from [24]).

E. Pressurizer
The pressurizer controls the coolant pressure in the primary loop and
maintains it at a level of more than 15.5 MPa. To give you an idea, this
is the water pressure if you dive to a depth of about 1.5 km. Under this
pressure, the water in the primary loop cannot boil even though it reaches
the temperature of 320°C during normal operation. It is for this reason that
Pressurized Water Reactors are called as such.

Fig. 26 Pressurizer of Olkiluoto nuclear power plant Unit-3 in Finland (image adapted from [25]).

20 NUCLEAR 101
What is the secondary loop?
The heat transported out of the nuclear reactor by the coolant of the primary
loop is transferred to the secondary loop. The “working fluid” inside the
secondary loop converts the thermal energy to mechanical energy. Electricity
is born in the secondary loop.

What are the components of the secondary loop?

The secondary loop is composed of the steam generator, turbine, electrical
generator, condenser, and feedwater pump.

Fig. 27 Components of the Secondary loop (image adapted from [18])

A. Steam generator
The transfer of heat from the primary loop to the secondary loop occurs
inside the steam generator. The steam generator consists of thousands
of individual tubes carrying hot water from the nuclear reactor. Colder
water from the secondary loop passes over the surface of these hot tubes,
absorbing the heat from the primary coolant without the two fluids being in
contact. This process boils the water in the secondary loop and turns it into
steam, while the primary coolant losses heat and is pumped back into the
nuclear reactor to repeat the process.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 21

 Steam
Outlet

Steam
Drier

Moisture
Separator
Water
Level Feedwater
Inlet
Fig. 28 Simplified flow
diagram of the the
primary/ reactor coolant
and secondary/feedwater
coolant inside the steam
generator(image adapted from
Separated U-Tube [26]).
Returned Section
Water Flow

Reactor Reactor
Coolant Inlet Coolant Outlet

Fig. 29 Steam generator of Fuqing nuclear power plant Unit-5 in China (image adapted from[27]).

22 NUCLEAR 101
B. Turbine
The steam produced by the steam generator enters the turbine and pushes
against its blades causing the turbine shaft to rotate. This process converts
the thermal energy carried by the steam into mechanical energy.

Fig. 30 Steam turbine of Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia (image adapted from
[28]).

C. Electrical Generator
A generator is an electrical machine in which the mechanical energy of the
turbine is transformed intro electrical energy by means of electromagnetic
induction. Electromagnetic induction is the process where an electrical
current is created as a result of a changing magnetic field. This happens
inside the generator through a shaft attached to a coil of wires that rotates
in the presence of fixed magnetic coils.

Fig. 31 Turbine generator of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant Unit-1 in United States of America
(image adapted from [29]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 23

D. Condenser
After the steam loses much of its energy by doing work on the turbine
blades, it must be cooled back into water before returning to the steam
generator to repeat the cycle.

The condenser, like the steam generator, also has thousands of individual
tubes. As cooling water from the tertiary loop flows inside these tubes,
steam condenses and forms water droplets on the surface of the tubes
– this is similar to what happens when a cold bottle of cola is exposed in
air. Through the condenser, the low-potential heat carried by the steam is
transferred to the tertiary loop without mixing of the fluid.

Fig. 32 Condenser tubes of the Callaway nuclear power plant in United States of America
(image adapted from [30]).

What is the tertiary loop?

The tertiary loop extracts the unusable heat from the secondary loop
and dissipates it to the environment. Depending on the site of an NPP, the
unusable heat can be expelled either to a large body of water or directly to
the atmosphere.

What are the components of the tertiary loop?

An NPP along the coast uses seawater pumps to extract cooling water from
the sea and circulate it through the tertiary loop.

24 NUCLEAR 101
 Fig. 33 Penly nuclear power plant in France uses seawater pumps to expell waste
heat (image adapted from [31]).

For an NPP that has limited access to a large body of water, cooling towers
are used to expel waste heat to the air.

Fig. 34 Components of the Tertiary loop (image adapted from [18]).

In both cases, there is no risk of spreading radioactivity to the environment

since the coolant in the tertiary loop never comes in contact with the nuclear
reactor.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 25

 Cooling Tower
What is a cooling
tower and how
Moist air rises and
flows out the top. does it work?
The cooling tower of an NPP
Heat rises
by is a giant, hollow concrete
convection

structure that is hyperboloid in

Water falls by
gravity and shape.
loses heat

Water that has passed through

Cool air
flows into the the condenser is transported
bottom.
up through piping inside the
cooling tower, and sprayed
downwards to a collection
Cooled water is
recirculated or released
pool. As the water droplets
to a river or lake
fall, heat is transferred to the
Fig. 35 Cooling towers use natural convection to cool air. The warm, moist air rises
the coolant of the tertiary loop (image adapted from and the cool air outside of the
[18]).
tower enters at its bottom. This
process creates a natural circulation of air. Some of the water evaporates
and escapes the cooling tower as water vapor. The collected water in the
pool is pumped backed to the condenser.

Fig. 36 Cooling tower of the Leibstadt nuclear power plant in Switzerland (image adapted from [32]).

26 NUCLEAR 101
Nuclear Power Plants in
the World
What is the current global status of NPPs?
According to the IAEA Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), there
are 449 NPPs in operation throughout the world, and 52 new NPPs under
construction [33].

The United States of America has the greatest number of nuclear power
reactors having 96 units in operation, while France has the largest nuclear
share in electricity generation amounting to 71.7%.

Most of the NPPs under construction are in Asia, where 9 are currently being
built in China. Even United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich country, is currently
building 4 units of nuclear power reactors.

Fig. 37 Barakah nuclear power plant construction site in United

Arab Emirates (image adapted from [34]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 27

What are the various types of Nuclear power
reactors?
300 units of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) are in operation in the world
today, making this type of reactor the most common nuclear power reactor.
This is followed by BWR (70 units), PHWR (49 units), GCR (14, units), LWGR
(13 units), and FBR (3 units).

What is a BWR?
BWR stands for Boiling Water Reactor. This is a type of reactor closely
related to PWR, because it also uses ordinary water as both coolant and
moderator.

The unique feature of a BWR is that steam is formed directly from the
nuclear reactor by allowing the primary coolant to boil. BWR is a direct
cycling nuclear power reactor.

Fig. 38 shows a simplified flow diagram of a BWR. BWRs do not have

pressurizer since they operate at a lower pressure to allow the primary
coolant to boil. Steam generators are also not needed because its
components are integrated in the nuclear reactor. The top part of a BWR
is occupied by the steam dryer and the steam-water separator. It is for this
reason that the control rods of a BWR are bottom-entry.

Steam Line

Reactor Vessel

Turbine

Generator

Pump

Pump Cooling Water

Control Rods
Condenser

Fig. 38 Diagram of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), (image adapted from [18]).

28 NUCLEAR 101
 Fig. 39 Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan is a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) (image
adapted from[35]).

What is an LWR?
PWR-type and BWR-type reactors that uses ordinary water as coolant and
moderator are classified under the category of Light Water Reactor (LWR).

In nature, hydrogen-1 is significantly more abundant than hydrogen-2

(Deuterium) that is why ordinary water we can find is most likely composed
of two hydrogen-1 atoms and an Oxygen atom. If the water molecule has
two Deuterium atoms instead, it is called heavy water (D2O). Heavy water
is indeed a little heavier than ordinary water, hence the name “light water”
was used to differentiate the two.

H-1 H-2

O-16 O-16

Light Water vs Heavy Water

Fig. 40 Difference between Lightwater (H2O) and Heavy water (D2O).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 29

 What is a PHWR?
A Pressurized Heavy Water
Reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear power
reactor that uses heavy water as its
coolant and moderator. The most
common type of PHWR is CANDU
(Canada Deuterium Uranium)
reactor. The unique capability of
a PHWR is that it can use natural
uranium as fuel (see topic of
enrichment) because of the
superior moderating properties of
Fig. 41 Pickering nuclear power plant in Canada is a Pressurized
Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) (image adapted from [36]). heavy water.

What is a GCR?
Gas-cooled Reactors (GCR) are special class of reactors that uses gas such
as carbon dioxide (CO2) or helium as coolant. The world’s first nuclear reactor
for commercial power generation is a GCR created by United Kingdom.
Graphite, one of the crystalline forms of carbon, is used as moderator in a
GCR.

Fig. 42 Calder hall nuclear power plant in United Kingdom is a Gas-cooled Reactor (GCR), and the
world’s first nuclear power plant to generate electricity on an industrial scale (image adapted from
[37]).

30 NUCLEAR 101
What is a LWGR?
Light Water-Cooled Graphite-Moderated Reactor uses ordinary water
as coolant and graphite as moderator. LWGR is also known as RBMK, the
abbreviation for its Russian name Reaktor Bolshoi Moshchnosti Kanalnye
which means “High Power Channel-type Reactor”.

Similar to a BWR, the coolant of the LWGR is allowed to boil as it passes

through the nuclear reactor, and the resulting steam is passed directly to
the turbine. The accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 occurred at a
reactor of this type.

Fig. 43 Smolensk nuclear power plant in Russia is a Light Water-Cooled Graphite-Moderated Reactor
(LWGR) (image adapted from [38]).

What is a Thermal Reactor?

All previously mentioned reactor types rely largely on slow neutrons to
propagate the fission chain reaction. This is the reason why these reactors
are designed to have moderators.

Slow neutrons are also called thermal neutronsxi, because their speed is
in the order of the thermal motion of the atoms for a given temperature.
Reactor types that rely on fission due to slow neutrons, hence uses
moderators, are called thermal reactors.

xi Thermal neutron has kinetic energy less than 1 eV. Its speed is about 2.2 km/s.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 31

What is an FBR?
FBR stands for Fast Breeder Reactor. In contrast to thermal reactors, an
FBR uses fast neutronsxii to cause fission in the fuel, hence a moderator is
not needed.

Fast neutrons can cause fission in fissile materials but the probabilities are
less than that for thermal neutrons. However, the advantage of using fast
neutrons is that it creates more neutrons per fission as compared to using
thermal neutrons. These excess neutrons can be used to convert certain
nuclides into new nuclear fuel. When the amount of new fuel produced is
larger than the amount of fuel consumed, the reactor is said to be capable
of breeding.

Fig. 44 Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in Russia is a Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) (image
adapted from [39]).

xii Fast neutron has kinetic energy more than 10 keV up to about 2 MeV. Its speed is about 20 km/s.

32 NUCLEAR 101
Nuclear Fuel Cycle
What is the nuclear fuel cycle?
Nuclear fuel cycle is the chain of processes where nuclear fuel is prepared
and managed before and after its use in a nuclear reactor [3].

Fig. 45 The nuclear fuel cycle (image adapted from [3]).

The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle is the set of processes to make
nuclear fuel from uranium ore, while the back end of the nuclear fuel
cycle is the management of the nuclear fuel after producing energy in the
nuclear reactor.

What are the steps in the front end of the

nuclear fuel cycle?
The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle involves uranium mining, milling,
conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 33

A. Uranium Mining
Uranium is a relatively common element in the Earth’s crust. It is a metal
approximately as common as tin or zinc, and can be found in rocks and even
in seawater.

Uranium is extracted from the Earth the same manner as the recovery
of other mineral resources. Uranium ore can be mined through open-pit
mining, underground mining, or in-situ leaching mining.

Fig. 46 In-situ leaching is a method where a solvent solution is injected underground, dissolves the
Uranium, and is then recovered from extraction wells (image adapted from [40]).

B. Uranium Milling
Uranium milling is the process where the mined uranium ore is physically
and chemically treated to extract and purify the uranium. The product
after this step is a U3O8 concentrate which is commonly called yellowcake,
however it can also be olive green to black in color.

Fig. 47 The end result

of uranium milling is
a dry powder known
as yellowcake (image
adapted from [41]).

34 NUCLEAR 101
C. Uranium Conversion
Conversion is the chemical process that transforms yellowcake into uranium
hexafluoride (UF6). UF6 can be in gaseous form which is advantageous for
the subsequent enrichment process.

Fig. 48 Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) cylinder (image adapted from [42]).

D. Enrichment
Uranium that is found in nature is ~99.3% U-238, and ~0.7% uranium-235.
It turns out that U-235 is much easier to split than U-238, very much easier
that even a thermal neutron can induce fission of U-235, while for U-238
this is not possible. It is therefore desirable to have enough U-235 to create
a self-sustaining fission chain reaction. The process of artificially increasing
the concentration of U-235 atoms is called enrichment.

Natural Uranium Enriched Uranium

Enrichment

U-235 U-235
Approximately 0.7% Approximately 3~5%

Fig. 49 Fuel of NPPs are usually enriched up to 3-5%xiii U-235 (image adapted from [43]).

xiii
Uranium enriched to less than 20% U-235 is known as low-enriched uranium (LEU), while those that are
enriched to higher levels are known ashighly-enriched uranium (HEU). Weapons-grade HEU is enriched to more
than 90% U-235.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 35

 Special class of fissionable materials which can
UF6 Feed Enriched U-235 undergo fission by absorbing a thermal neutron
are fissile materials. U-235 is the only naturally-
occurring fissile material. Other examples of fissile
materials are Pu-239, Pu-241, and U-233. These
can be produced during the normal operation of
Depleted a Thermal Reactor but more efficiently in a Fast
U-235
Breeder Reactor (FBR).

One method of enriching uranium is through a

centrifuge. Centrifuge enriches fuel by spinning
UF6. Heavier U-238 moves toward the cylinder
walls, and U-235 collects near the center. The end-
product of this process is enriched UF6.

Motor

Fig. 50 Method of separating U-238 and

U-235 through a centrifuge (image adapted
from [18]).

E. Reconversion and Fuel Fabrication

Enriched uranium in UF6 is converted to uranium dioxide (UO2) powder. This
powder is then formed into pellets, sintered through a furnace to achieve
the desired density, and ground to the required dimensions. Fuel pellets
are loaded into tubes of zircalloy or stainless steel, which are sealed at both
ends. These fuel rods are spaced in fixed parallel arrays to form the reactor
fuel assemblies

Fuel Pellets Fuel Rods Fuel Assemblies

Fig. 51 Process of fuel fabrication (image adapted from [18]).

36 NUCLEAR 101
What are the steps in the back end of the nuclear
fuel cycle?
The back end of the fuel cycle starts when the irradiated or “spent” fuel is
unloaded from the reactor. This involves interim storage, reprocessing, and
long-term storage or final disposal of high level waste.

A. Interim Storage
After being used in the reactor for about 5 years, spent fuel is removed
from the reactor. Spent fuel is highly-radioactive and produces a lot of heat
requiring them to be stored in water-filled pools for a duration of 5 to 10
years. The water cools the spent fuel and also shields the radiation while
waiting for its radioactivity and heat generation to decrease through time.

Fig. 52 Wet storage for spent fuel (image adapted from [44]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 37

 After the initial period of
cooling, the fuel can be loaded
into large, shielded casks in
which natural air circulation
maintains it at the required
temperatures. This is known
as dry cask storage. The spent
fuel can be stored in dry cask
storage facilities for a period of
40 to 60 years.

Fig. 53 Dry spent fuel storage facility in Switzerland (image adapted from
[45]).

B. Reprocessing
Reprocessing or recycling is the operation by which the unused fissile
material (uranium and plutonium) in spent fuel can be recovered with the
intention of reusing it in new nuclear fuel.

Spent nuclear fuel still contains significant amount of fissile material that
can be used to produce energy. Much of the U-235 still remains and new
fissile nuclides are produced after irradiation in a nuclear reactor (e.g. Pu-
239, and Pu-241) (See Fig. 54).

Recyclable Final
material waste

Plutonium Uranium Fission Metal

1% 95% products structures
4%

Recycling

Standard Standard
MOX fuel (1) ERU fuel (2) container container of
of vitrified compacted
waste waste

(1) MOX: mixed oxide.

(2) Enriched recycled uranium.

Fig. 54 Composition and reprocessing of spent fuel (image adapted from [3]).

38 NUCLEAR 101
The end-product of reprocessing are reusable materials that can be used to
make Mixed oxide fuel (MOX) –UO2 + PuO2, or Enriched recycled Uranium
(ERU), and High Level Waste (HLW)– fission products, and transuranic
elements.

Without reprocessing, HLW refers to the spent fuel. However after

reprocessing, only the separated waste materials are being considered.
These accounts for over 95% of the total radioactivity produced in the
process of electricity generation.

Conditioning of HLW involves mixing it with melted glass and injecting the
molten mixture into a stainless steel cylindrical container. This is now called
vitrified waste.

Fig. 55 Glass Melter (left), view of the molten HLW and glass mixture (upper
right), and vitrified waste (lower right) (image adapted from [43]).

C. Final Disposal
In cases where reprocessing is not considered, spent fuel can be disposed
in deep geological formations for an indefinite period of time until a non-
hazardous level of radioactivity from the actinides and fission products is
reached by decay.

Engineered barriers are placed to contain the spent fuel and retard the
dispersion of radioactive substances. These barriers include the canister,
buffer made of bentonite, host rock, backfill, and closure.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 39

 Fuel pellet of Spent Nodular iron insert Bentonite clay Surface part of final repository
uranium dioxide nuclear fuel

about 500 m

Cladding tube BWR Fuel Copper canister Crystalline bedrock Underground part of
Assembly final repository

Fig. 56 The KBS-3 method involves encapsulating the spent fuel in copper canisters sealed by a buffer of bentonite clay inside
deposition holes at a depth of 400 to 700 m in the bedrock (image adapted from [46]).

What is decommissioning?
Decommissioning of a nuclear facility includes removal of all radioactive
materials, decontamination and dismantling, and finally, demolition and
site clearance. The end goal of decommissioning is to release the nuclear
site from regulatory control to be made available for other purposes.

40 NUCLEAR 101
Nuclear Safety
What is nuclear safety?
The definition of IAEA for nuclear safety is as follows:

The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents

and mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers,
the public and the environment from undue radiation risks [47].

What is the fundamental safety objective?

The fundamental safety objective is to protect people and environment
from harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

Safety is always the highest priority overriding all other demands.

What are the considerations to ensure safety?

Several aspects contribute to ensure that the fundamental safety objective
is always met. These includes the following:

• Technical aspects

• Safety Assessments

• Organizational and Human Factors, and

• Safety Culture

What are the technical aspects of nuclear safety?

A. Siting
Siting is the selection of a site for a nuclear facility, taking into account safety
factors like the site’s hydrological, geological, meteorological, seismic, and
demographic characteristics.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 41

The design of an NPP takes into consideration that safety-related structures
and systems should be able to withstand any reasonably predictable natural
event.

Fig. 57 Flood barriers at Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant Unit-1 are
installed as countermeasure against tsunami (image adapted from [48]).

B. Defense-in-depth
The basic design philosophy behind nuclear facilities is defense-in-depth,
which provides multiple independent levels of protection against the
release of radioactive substances.

Steam line 1st barrier:

fuel pellet matrix

Steam
generator 2ndbarrier:
fuel cladding

Reactor 3rd barrier:

pressure reactor pressure
vessel boundary

Primary pump
4th barrier:
containment
building

Fig. 58 Typical barriers confining radioactive materials (image adapted from [3]).

42 NUCLEAR 101
 Fig. 59 Thickness of the
reinforced concrete used in
containment buildings (image
adapted from [49]).

C. Engineered safety systems

In an NPP, safety systems are put in place to ensure that at all times:

• Fission chain reaction can be stopped and the nuclear reactor can be
shutdown,

• Fuel can be cooled, and

• Radioactive materials are contained.

Containment Vessel Spray System Emergenry Core Cooling System

A donut-shaped spary tube is installed on
the inner wall of the containment vessel
and cools the inside of the vessel by show-
ering it with cool water.
This is a containment vessel spray system.
Water pipes in a donut shape are perfo-
rated, so if the water in the reactor core
drops, it automatically sprays the fuel and
cools it.
This is a spray type of reactor core cooling
system.

Containment vessel
Reactor pressure vessel

Automatic depressurization system

Containment vessel
spray system To turbine
High-pressure core

Feed water
spray system

Low-
Low-pressure core spray system

pressure
injection
system
Boric acid water injection pump
Boric acid water tank

Pump Pump

From condensate storage tank

Fig. 60 Emergency Core Cooling system (ECCS) of BWR as a countermeasure against loss-of-
coolant accident (LOCA) (image adapted from [50]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 43

 Containment Vessel Spray System
If pressure rises inside the containment vessel,
Refueling water water is sprayed inside the vessel to restrain
storage tank
Containment Vessel the rise in pressure.

Containment vessel
Fig. 61 Emergency
Containment vessel
spray system spray system
Core Cooling system
Passive accumulator
injecttion system (ECCS) of PWR as a
countermeasure against
Reactor pressure vessel

Control rods and

loss-of-coolant accident
drive mechanism Pressurizer
To turbine
Steam generator

Feed water
Emergency Core Cooling System (LOCA) (image adapted
(ECCS)
from [50]).
The ECCS injects water into the
Steam generator

reactor core via the corresponding

system, according to conditions
inside the pressure vessel
Boric acid
injection tank
Core High-pressure
Primary coolant pump injection pump
Primary
High-pressure
coolant pump
injection system
High-pressure
injection system
Low-pressure
injection system
Low-pressure
injection system Low-pressure Passive accumulator
injection pump injection system

Safety systems are designed by applying the principles of reliability;

redundancy, i.e. providing additional backups even if only one system
is needed to fulfill the function; diversity, i.e. the avoidance of common
cause failure by using different principles of operation; and the physical
separation of safety systems.

What are safety assessments?

Before allowing an NPP to be constructed, commissioned and operated, its
safety must be assessed through a systematic and rigorous analysis of the
plant’s design against a defined set of conditions.

National regulations also frequently require that systematic safety

assessments be made periodically throughout the lifetime of any nuclear
plant.

Fig. 62 NPP safety systems are

periodically inspected by workers
and regulators (image adapted from
[18]).

44 NUCLEAR 101
What is safety culture?
Safety culture is the set of characteristics and attitudes in organizations and
individuals to ensure that safety is the top priority.

In practice, this is about using a well-devised system of education, enforcing

compliance with regulations, analyzing abnormal events and searching for
ways to prevent them.

A pre-requisite for safety is having well-trained nuclear reactor operators.

Operators undergo lengthy and rigorous training that concludes with a
state examination to ensure that the staff has the necessary qualifications.
Personnel qualifications are also regularly assessed and reviewed by
regulators.

Fig. 63 Full-scale simulators are used to train nuclear power plant operators
(image adapted from [51]).

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENERGY 45

Can I receive significant radiation
exposure by being nearby a Nuclear
Power Plant?
From Fig. 64, it can be seen that measurements of the radiation around
an NPP site is significantly below the level of other naturally-occurring and
human-made radiation sources.

Radiation in Daily-life ※Unit : μSv

Radiation dose
(microsievert:μSv） Upper limit of radiation dose permitted for
people who engage in emergency work.

250,000 ［250,000μSv/year］
Upper limit of radiation dose permitted for radiation workers,

50,000 police , and firefighters who engage in disaster prevention.

［50,000μSv/year］
［～10,000μSv/year］ Chest CT scan

［6,900μSv/each time］
Radiation dose in
Guarapari(Brazil) per year.
10,000

［～2,400μSv/year］ Space 0.39 ingestion 0.29

Global
average

Natural radiation
1,000
Dose limit for public per year
dose per year. (except for medical care).
Earth Radon absorbed
0.48 in air 1.26
Gifu Kanagawa
［1,000μSv/year］
Maximum difference of the average of
natural radiation dose in each prefecture. gastrointestinal X-ray examination.

［～400μSv/year］ ［600μSv/each time］

An air travel between Tokyo and New York (RT).
100
(Increased cosmic radiation at high altitude.)
［50μSv/each time］
［～200μSv/round trip］ Chest X-ray examination.

Evaluated dose of radiation from radioactive

［22μSv/year］ substance emitted from the nuclear fuel ［50μSv/year］
reprocessing plant per year.
Standard dose of radiation around a
nuclear plant (light water reactor).
［10μSv/year］ Standard radiation dose from
Clearance level.
10
(Actual result is far below the value.)

(Ref) Average dose rate at the monitoring post of Tokyo (3/16 9:00～3/17 9:00, , March) : 0.054μSv/h = 474μSv/y

Fig. 64 Radiation dose from various natural and artifical sources (image adapted from [52]).

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

- Marie Curie: Nobel Laureate (Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911)

___________________________________________________________________________

46 NUCLEAR 101
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 Nuclear 101
Nuclear Science and Energy

AUTHOR DOE-NEPIO Human Resource

Technical Working Group
Ronald Daryll E. Gatchalian
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
Angelina V. Manga, CESO IV
Former Administrative Service Director and Head
REVIEW AND EVALUATION TEAM
NEPIO HR-TWG
Alvie A. Astronomo
Ma. Cecilia P. Baldos
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
Chief Administrative Officer
Human Resource Management Division (HRMD)
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Josefina D. Nuestro
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Hans Joshua V. Dantes HRMD
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LAY-OUT, DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION Supervising Administrative Officer
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Metamedia Information Systems Corp.
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Administrative Officer V
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Supervising Administrative Officer
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Administrative Officer V
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