EE-424: Power Generation

Nuclear Power Plants

Muhammad Arif

Department of Electrical Engineering Pakistan Institute of

Engineering and applied Sciences, Nilore, Pakistan

Source of Lecture Slides:

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute
of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Problems With Fossil Fuels

 Limited reserves
 Harmful emissions
 Typical coal plant produces 600,000 tons of ash per year.
 Typical coal plant may produce 100 times more
radioactivity than typical nuclear plant.
 Energy security
 Nuclear Advantage
 One kilogram of uranium-235 when fissioned can theoretically
produce as much energy as 3000 tons of coal.
 No carbon emission, no air pollutants
 Typical nuclear plant produces about ~ 25 tons of highly
radioactive waste per year only.
 Land area required for 1000MW electricity production: Fossil
and nuclear sites:1–4 km2, Solar thermal PV parks: 20–50 km²
(a small city); Wind fields: 50–150 km², Biomass plantations:
4000–6000 km²(a province).
 An accident in a nuclear power plant can be much more
disastrous.
Nuclear Advantage

Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder

History of Nuclear Energy Development

“Nuclear reactors will produce electricity so

cheaply that it will not be necessary to meter it.”

President Dwight D, 1953, Atoms for Peace speech .

History of Nuclear Energy Development

 Today’s Reality: Accidents have caused worldwide

concern about the safety of nuclear power plants.
 About16% of global electricity is produced using nuclear
energy
 France generates ~ 79% of its electricity using nuclear
 30 nations operate nuclear power plants
 Power output range of 40 to 2000 MW
 Current designs are 600 to1200 MW
 History of Nuclear Energy Development

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
The Relative Cost of Nuclear Power

safety regulations
tend to drive cost
 Half-life
 The nuclei of certain atoms are unstable and spontaneously
decompose. These isotopes are radioactive.
 Neutrons, electrons, protons, and other larger particles are released
during nuclear disintegration, along with a great deal of energy.
 Radioactive half-life is the time it takes for half the radioactive
material to spontaneously decompose.
Half-life
Half-life
Half-life
 Types of Radiations
 Nuclear disintegration releases energy from the nucleus as radiation:
 Alpha radiation consists of fast moving Hellium-4 (He4) nuclei. It can be
stopped by the outer layer of skin.
 Beta radiation consists of electrons from the nucleus, is stopped by a layer
of clothing, glass, or aluminum.
 Gamma radiation is a form of EM radiation. It can pass through your body,
several centimeters of lead, or a meter of concrete.
Nature of Nuclear Energy

 Nuclear energy: Energy released by nuclear fission or fusion

 Natural decay
 Nuclear fission
 Nuclear fusion

 Only certain kinds of atoms are suitable for development of a

nuclear chain reaction.
 The most common nuclear fules are uranium-235 and
plutonium-239.
 Nuclear Fission

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Nuclear Fission

Fission products
U235

 The components in this reaction on the right-hand side weigh 0.091% less than
those on the left-hand side.
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fission
 Nuclear Fission

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fission
 Uranium 235 Fission
 This energy appears as kinetic energy of the fission products and
neutrons, which then collide with surrounding atoms and increase their
thermal vibration, that is, release heat.
 The three neutrons emitted have an initial velocity of typically 20,000
km/s (about 6% of C).
 These fast neutrons can interact with other atoms of 235U, their chance
of doing so can be increased by about 1000-fold by reducing their
velocity, say, to 2km/s.
 These slower-moving neutrons would have a velocity similar to that of
atoms vibrating due to thermal motions, and hence they are often
called thermal neutrons.
Sustaining Chain Reaction

Excess neutrons are absorbed, preventing amplification

 A controlled chain reaction in a reactor used in nuclear power

plants to produce electricity.
 Moderator and Control Rods

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Nuclear Reactor Essentials

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Nuclear Reactor Essentials
 Fissile Material (Normally 235U)
 Uranium naturally occurs as three isotopes: 234U, 235U, 238U
 Only 235U is capable of sustainable a chain reaction
 Natural uranium is ~99.3% 238U; and ~0.7% 235U
 For use in nuclear reactors ~ 3% - 5% 235U is needed
 Correct arrangement of 235U
 in form of UO2 pellets – uranium dioxide
 Fuel rods: long metal tubes arranged in specific geometric pattern
packed with small pellets of UO2
 Coolant: to dissipate excess heat
 Nuclear Reactor Essentials
 A moderator
 Fast neutrons are converted into thermal neutrons as a result of a series of
collisions with surrounding atoms.
 A fast neutron hitting a large atom tends to bounce off losing only a small
amount of its energy. However, if it hits a small atom such as hydrogen or
carbon, it will lose a significant fraction of its kinetic energy.
 Thus, to convert a fast neutron to a slow or thermal neutron requires about
2000 successive collisions with uranium atoms but only about 20 collisions
with the lightest atom, hydrogen.
 Each successive collision may lead either to a fission reaction or to the
neutron's combining with the atom with which it is colliding to make
another isotope.
Nuclear Reactor Essentials
 Thus, there is an advantage in surrounding the uranium with lighter material
that can lead to the conversion of fast neutrons to thermal neutrons, which can
then pass back into the uranium; this process is known as moderation, and the
light material used is termed a moderator.
 Moderators used in thermal reactors have included hydrogen (in the form of its
oxide, water), the hydrogen isotope deuterium (also in the form of its oxide,
heavy water), and carbon (usually in the form of graphite).
 The best moderator is heavy water, which absorbs neutrons only weakly.
However, heavy water is an expensive material and it is often preferable to use
ordinary (light) water even though it absorbs neutrons much more strongly.
 The thermal neutrons are 1 000 times more effective than fast neutrons in
continuing the chain reaction
 Nuclear Reactor Essentials
 Control Rods: composed of neutron-absorbing material (neutron
poison) inserted between fuel rods.
 Various materials
 Silver-indium-cadmium alloys; Boron alloys; Hafnium;
Dysprosium titanate; and others
 Simple concept: need exactly one excess neutron per fission event to
find another 235U
 Inserting a neutron absorber into the core removes neutrons from
the pool
 Pulling out rod makes more neutrons available
 Emergency procedure is to drop all control rods at once
Moderator and Control Rods

Fuel
Assemblies

Control rods

Withdraw control rods, Insert control rods,

reaction increases reaction decreases
Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder
 Moderator and Control Rods

Reactor Criticality:
• When neutron population remains steady from one
generation to the next, fission chain reaction is self-
sustaining, and the reactor's condition is referred to as
"critical“.
• When the reactor’s neutron production exceeds losses,
characterized by increasing power level, it is considered
"supercritical“.
• When losses dominate, it is considered "subcritical" and
exhibits decreasing power.
Uranium Mined and Refined

Yellow Cake(U3O8)
Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder
From Yellow Cake to UF6

Uranium oxide is converted into a gas, Uranium Hexafluoride

(UF6) which is then fed into centrifuges for enrichment
 Uranium enrichment
 Most common methods of uranium enrichment (increasing 235U to 3%
to 5%)
 Gas Centrifugation
 Gas Diffusion (diffused through a membrane)
 Molecular laser isotope separation
 Mass Spectrographs
 Gas centrifuge process uses a large number of rotating cylinders in
.
series and parallel formations. This rotation creates a strong
centrifugal force so that the heavier gas molecules containing 238U
move toward the outside of the cylinder and lighter gas molecules
rich in 235U collect closer to center.
 Uranium enrichment

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Uranium enrichment

Uranium Enrichment
Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder
 Gas Diffusion Method

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 LASER Isotope Separation Technique

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Mass Spectrographs

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Fuel Fabrication

Enriched UF6 gas is converted into solid Uranium Oxide

(UO2 ) which is formed into fuel pellets

Nuclear Fuel Pellet Pellets Encased

UO2
in Ceramic
 Fuel Fabrication

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Fuel Fabrication

Pellets Inserted into Rods

Fuel Fabrication

Pellets are packaged in long rods, bundled into assemblies

Pressure Vessel
Containment Building
Containment Vessel
1.5-inch thick steel

Shield Building Wall

3 foot thick reinforced concrete

Dry Well Wall

5 foot thick reinforced concrete

Bio Shield
4 foot thick leaded concrete with
1.5-inch thick steel lining inside and out

Reactor Vessel
4 to 8 inches thick steel

Reactor Fuel

Weir Wall
1.5 foot thick concrete

Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder

 Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
 Largest number of reactors
worldwide
 200 in service for naval
propulsion
 Pressurized to maintain coolant
(and moderator) in Liquid state
i.e., 300 to 325oC and 15 or 16
MPa.
 High pressure coolant
circulated to a steam generator
to produce steam at 6 MP
 Turbine is not exposed to
radioactive coolant and does
not need to be shielded
Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute
of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)
 Pressure in reactor is lower than PWR , e.g., 7 MPa (285oC) since intention
is to produce steam
 Steam produced in reactor vessel is directed outside containment to turbine
that is radioactive and must be shielded
 2nd most popular type of reactor.

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Gas Cooled Reactors
 Uses Carbon Dioxide as the coolant and Graphite as a moderator
 •Carbon dioxide reaches 650oC in core and does not absorb neutrons
 •Graphite is inexpensive and readily available

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 CANDU Design Reactor

Uses Heavy Water as coolant and moderator (1700 times more

efficient than water); Fuel is natural uranium (not enriched);
about half of the energy comes from Pu produced in reactor;
online refueling.

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Formation of Pu-239 in a breeder reactor
Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor
 About 99% of mined 238U is left unused; Economically extractable Fuel
is available for another 80 years or so
 Fast breeder reactors (FBRs) convert fertile materials 238U and 232Th into
fissile 239Pu and 233U, respectively.
 Uses the fast neutrons from 235U fission on surrounding 238U to produce
Pu
239

 In 10-20 years, enough Pu is produced to power another reactor

 No moderators are allowed and no water, must use liquid sodium
coolant
 U must be at 15%-30% enrichment to generate power with fast neutrons
while breeding Pu.
 Summary: Types of Nuclear Reactors

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Natural Reactor in Oklo

The Oklo reactor is interesting in itself but it is also highly relevant to the discussion
of dealing with present day waste. Neither the fission fragments nor the Pu migrated
from the site in 2 x 109 y.
Source: Basic Physics of Nuclear Reactors by Prof. Paddy Regan, University of Surrey, UK
 Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Nuclear Fuel Cycle: processes involved in producing the fuel used in nuclear
reactors and in disposing of radioactive (nuclear) wastes

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Nuclear Waste
 10 years after being removed from a nuclear power plant, an
unshielded spent fuel rod assembly still emits enough radiation to
kill a person standing one meter away in less than 3 minutes.
 Low-level Radioactive Waste: Anything exposed to high level waster
that gives off small amounts of ionizing radiation (contaminated oil,
clothing, papers, towels).
 Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste: higher level of activity than
low-level waste (reactor components, shielding, filters, etc.)
 High-level Radioactive Waste: Spent fuel, reprocessing plant waste;
only 3% of waste volume but more than 95% radioactivity of waste.
 What should we do with the leftovers?
What Can be Done With the Waste?
Spent Nuclear Fuel What is in it?

 Most radioactivity
decays within 1,000
years
 Remaining
radioactivity similar
to that of the
naturally-occurring
uranium ore, though
more concentrated

Source: Turbines I and Nuclear GEOS 24705/ ENST 24705

Temporary Spent Fuel Storage Pool

Source: Turbines I and Nuclear GEOS 24705/ ENST 24705

Dry Cask and its Durability

Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder

Waste Disposal
Yucca Mountain Burial Site

Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder

Yucca Mountain Burial Site

Interior of Yucca Mountain

Source:Prof. Stephen Lawrence Leeds School of Business University of Colorado at Boulder

 Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants
 Licensed to operate for 40 years
 Several have received 20-year extensions
 Power plants cannot be abandoned when they are shut down
 Utilities have three options in decommissioning a plant:
 Decontaminate and dismantle plant as soon as it is shut down.
 Shut down plant for 20-100 years, allowing radiation to dissipate, then
dismantle.
 Entomb plant by covering the reactor with reinforced concrete and placing a
barrier around the plant.
 Recent experience indicates decommissioning a large plant will
cost between $200 and $400 million
Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants

Connecticut Yankee Site

 Safety Issues in Nuclear Power Plants
 Nuclear explosion is not possible at commercial power plants using
low-enriched uranium
 Operation at excessive fuel power levels can lead to melting of fuel
and/or fuel rods and/or rupture of heat transfer system  LOCA
 Loss-of-Coolant Accidents (LOCA)
 Even if the primary fission stops due to loss of a moderator, on-going
radioactive decay of fission products (~ 7% of the reactor’s heat output) can
cause enough heat to build up to melt reactor components and start fires
 Steam or hydrogen explosions and fires can lead to release of radioactive
wastes
 Three-Mile Island
 1979- most serious reactor
accident in US
 50% meltdown of reactor
core
 Containment building kept
radiation from escaping
 No substantial environmental
damage
 No human casualties
 Elevated public
apprehension of nuclear
energy
 Led to cancellation of many
new plants in US
Three-Mile Island
 Safety Issues in Nuclear Power Plants

 Construction period: 1973- 1984

 Cost: Nearly six billion dollars.
 Operated for only 32 hours (a low power test) and never produced any
commercial electricity.
 Shut down in 1989 and decommissioning completed in 1994
 Decommissioning cost: ~ 186 million dollar)
Shoreham Nuclear Plant on Long Island, New York

Shut down in 1989 due to lack of a viable evacuation plan

 Chornobyl

 1986- worst accident

in history
 1 or 2 explosions
destroyed the
nuclear reactor
 Large amounts of
radiation escaped
into atmosphere
 Spread across large
portions of Europe
 Chornobyl

 Radiation spread
was unpredictable
 Radiation fallout
was dumped
unevenly
 Death toll is
10,000-100,000
 Fukushima Accident March 11,2011
 Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power
supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear
accident
 All three cores largely melted in the first three days.
Nuclear Energy- the Right or Wrong Choice?
Nuclear Energy- the Right or Wrong Choice?
Nuclear Energy- the Right or Wrong Choice?
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion

 Sun is 16 million degrees Celsius in center

 Enough energy to ram protons together (despite mutual
repulsion) and make deuterium, then helium
 Reaction per mole ~20 million times more energetic than
chemical reactions, in general.
 1 mole (6.0221023 particles) of protons  2.51012 J
 The yield of typical chemical reactions: 100–200 kJ/mole
 Nuclear fusion is ~20 million times more potent stuff!
Nuclear Fusion
Artificial Fusion
 16 million degrees in sun’s center at enormous pressure is just enough
to keep the process going by fusion of hydrogen atoms. The
conditions in the sun cannot be recreated on earth, so a different fusion
reaction has been studied involving two isotopes of hydrogen called
deuterium and tritium ( 2H and 3H, sometimes called 2D and 3T).

 In laboratory, need Better off starting with deuterium plus tritium at

higher temperatures (like 100 million degrees) still to get worthwhile
rate of fusion events.
Nuclear Fusion

2
H + 3H  4He + n + 17.6 MeV (leads to 81 MCal/g)
Nuclear Fusion

Deuterium everywhere
 Natural hydrogen is 0.0115% deuterium
 Lots of hydrogen in sea water (H2O)
 Total U.S. energy budget covered by sea water contained in
cubic volume 170 meters on a side
 corresponds to 0.15 cubic meters per second
 4 gallons per person per year!!!

Source: UCSD Physic 12 (Spring 2009)

 Nuclear Fusion

Tritium nowhere
 Tritium is unstable, with half-life of 12.32 years
 thus none naturally available
 Can make it by bombarding 6Li with neutrons
 extra n in D-T reaction can be used for this, if reaction core is surrounded
by “lithium blanket”
 Lithium on land in U.S. would limit D-T to a hundred years or so
 maybe a few thousand if we get lithium from ocean
 D-D reaction requires higher temperature, but could be sustained
for many millennia

Source: UCSD Physic 12 (Spring 2009)

Nuclear Fusion

Nasty by-products?
 Practically none: not like radioactive fission products
 Building stable nuclei (like 4He)
 Tritium is only radioactive substance
 energy is low, half-life short: not much worry here
 Extra neutrons can tag onto local metal nuclei (in surrounding
structure) and become radioactive
 but this is a small effect, especially compared to fission

Source: UCSD Physic 12 (Spring 2009)

Nuclear Fusion

Why don’t we embrace fusion, then?

 It’s a huge technological challenge, always
We say that we will put
50 years from fruition
the sun into a box. The
 must confine plasma at 50 million degrees!!!
idea is pretty. The
 100 million degrees for D-D reaction
problem is, we don’t
 all the while providing fuel flow, heat
know how to make the
extraction, tritium supply, etc.
box.
 Still pursued, but with decreased
enthusiasm, increased skepticism S´ebastien Balibar,
 but man, the payoff is huge: clean, unlimited Director of Research,
energy CNRS

Source: UCSD Physic 12 (Spring 2009)

Nuclear Fusion
Fusion Successes?
 Fusion has been accomplished in labs, in big plasma machines
called Tokamaks
 got ~6 MW out of Princeton Tokamak in 1993
 but put ~12 MW in to sustain reaction
 Hydrogen bomb also employs fusion
 fission bomb (e.g., 239Pu) used to generate extreme temperatures and
pressures necessary for fusion
 LiD (lithium-deuteride) placed in bomb
 fission neutrons convert lithium to tritium
 tritium fuses with deuterium

Source: UCSD Physic 12 (Spring 2009)

 Nuclear Fusion
Deuterium is found in water. Tritium is not present naturally, must be produced by
allowing the neutrons from the fusion reaction to bombard nuclei of Lithium
surrounds the core (where the reaction takes place) of the reactor in a sort of
blanket.
 Pakistan: Nuclear Power

 5 commercial reactors contribute towards 4% of national

electricity.
 1965: PARR-I, research reactor, 5 MWt
 1972: CANDU Type reactor 137 MWe
 ?: PARR-II, research reactor, 27 kWt
 2000: C-1, 325 MWe
 2011: C-2, 325 MWe
 2016: C-3, 340 MWe
 2017: C-4, 340 MWe
 Under construction
 K2 and K3 1100 MWe each.