11/5/20

Light Water Reactors

KRISTINE MARIE ROMALLOSA

Philippine Nuclear Research Institute

OPERABLE POWER REACTORS ACCORDING TO TYPES

PWR & BWR Accounts for more than 80% of power reactors in the world

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• Light Water Reactor (LWR)

• Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
Light Water • Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

Reactors • Operational Control of LWR Power Plant

• Gen III+ Reactors

Pressurized Water Reactor

(PWR)

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LIGHT WATER REACTORS PWR

Light water is used as a moderator, coolant and reflector.

Operated at high vapor pressure due the high vapor
pressure of water

Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

fueled by uranium oxide clad in zircaloy and maintained at
high pressure (e.g. 16MPa) so that it does not boil at
the operating temperature of the reactor. BWR

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

fueled also by uranium oxide clad in zircaloy which is
boiled water boils in the core to produce steam that
directly drives turbines.

PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS

Developed by Westinghouse (WH) for power source of a Nuclear Submarine “Nautilus”
(1955) and later commercially at Shippingport NPS Unit-1 (60MWe) 1957
Secondary Coolant
System Not
Primary Coolant Radioactive
• Coolant: light water System Radioactive
• Moderator: light water
• Water/steam cycle pressure: ~16 MPa
• Tinlet ~ 290 oC, Toutlet at 325 oC Steam Not Radioactive

Feed Water Not Radioactive

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PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS

Pressurizer – maintain pressure in the primary coolant loop

Small changes in the volume could

lead to large change in pressure.
E.g, if coolant volume drops,
pressure will drop leading to
vaporization of water. E.g could
result to lose of coolant that could
meltdown the fuel.

With pressure actuated spray

nozzle (at top) which limits pressure
rise and heater (bottom) which
limits pressure reduction.

PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS

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PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS

Reactor Coolant System

PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS

• UO2 fuel: ceramic form
(melting point ~ 2800oC)
• Enrichment 3 - 4.5%
• Zircaloy cladding
• 14x14 - 17x17 fuel rods
• 4 meters long
• About 190-240
assemblies
• Total uranium in reactor
is 90-125 tons

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Boiling Water Reactor

(BWR)

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BOILING WATER REACTORS

General Electric (GE) aimed at following WH and designed BWR based on the different
concept. First Commercial BWR - Dresden NPS Unit-1 (180MWe) 1960 (US)

• Single Loop Concept, allows water to

boil in the core
• Coolant: light water The coolant is boiled in a RPV
• Moderator: light water and is directly sent to Turbine

• Water/steam cycle pressure: ~7 Mpa

• Boils at the core at ~285 oC, a
mixture steam and water leaves the
RPV
• Steam separator and steam dryer
integrated in RPV
• Water in turbine is radioactive

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BOILING WATER REACTORS

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BOILING WATER REACTORS

Control rod
drive
mechanism

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BOILING WATER REACTORS

• UO2 fuel: ceramic form
(melting point ~ 2800oC)
• Enrichment 3 - 4.5%
• Zircaloy cladding
• 6x6 - 10x10 fuel rods
• Up to 750 assemblies in a
reactor core, holding up to
140 tonnes of uranium.
• ~4 meters long

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BWR vs. PWR

BWR PWR
Pressure : ~ 7MPa Pressure ~ 15 MPa
RPV Temperature ~290oC RPV Temperature ~326oC
No Pressurizer With Pressurizer
No Steam Generator (steam Generated in RPV, with With Steam Generator (Steam generated in Steam
Separator and Dryer) Generator via second loop)
Control rods is inserted from the bottom of the core Control rods is inserted from the top of the core
ADVANTAGES
Lower nuclear fuel temperature Higher power density hence smaller RPV
Lesser components Water in turbine not contaminated (water in primarly
loop separate from secondary loop)
Possibility to operate at lower core power density Lesser shielding required
levels with natural circulation
Do not use boric acid to control fission burn-up (less
possibility of corrosion in RPV & piping)

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Operation Control of LWR

Power Plants

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Reactivity Control in LWR

1) External Reactivity Change
Ø by Control Rod, a Boric Acid Concentration in coolant
(PWR), and Recirculation Flow (BWR)
2) Temperature Effect
Ø by Doppler Effect, Coolant Density Effect (PWR)
and Void Effect (BWR)
3) Fission Product Poisoning
Ø by Xe-135, Sm-149 etc.

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External Reactivity Control

Control Rod Control System
ü Control rods are used to
control the reactivity in
the core
ü It can change the
reactivity of the reactor
fast
ü Used in start-up and
shutdown operation of
the reactors ~185 Control Rod
(Boron Carbide)

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External Reactivity Control

Control rod
drive
mechanism

PWR CR drive is
PWR CR drive is
downward
upward motion
motion
from bottom

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External Reactivity Control

Boric Acid Concentration Control Recirculation Flow Control (BWR)
(PWR)
ü Increasing of core flow will cause rising of
ü Control for long term reactivity reactor power
changing by accumulating of poison ü Decreasing of core flow will cause
fission product dropping of power
ü Boron in moderator (coolant): B-10 as
a poison – Concentration is adjusted to
keep reactor critical
ü Control for long term reactivity Jet Pump

changing by fuel burn up

Recirculation Pump

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Temperature Effect Reactivity Control

Unexpected Disturbance Concept of “Feedback Reactivity”
(Increasing Nuclear Fission)

Reactor Power Up
Doppler Effect
Rising of Fuel Temp.
(BWR and PWR)
Rising of Coolant Temp. Void Effect
(BWR)
Density Effect
(PWR)
Negative
Reactor Power Decreasing of Reactivity
Down Nuclear Fission Feedback

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Temperature Effect Reactivity Control

Doppler Effect Resonance Absorption Region
(No-contribution to Nuclear

Cross Section (Barn)

Fission)
The fuel temperature affects the resonance
escape probability p. At a higher fuel temperature,
Absorption Cross-
there is an energy broadening of the resonances Section of U-238
(the “Doppler” effect)

Absorption Cross-section Area

Neutrons have a lower probability of escaping Usual Resonance Area under
resonance capture. Thus reactivity decreases as Normal Operation
the fuel temperature increases.
Neutron
Energy

As a result, the Nuclear Fission decreases since Resonance Area When Fuel
Temp. Rises
the number of the neutron captured by U-238
increases. Image of Doppler Effect

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Moderator Effect (Density Effect) PWR

Power Up → Coolant (Moderator) Temp. Rise → Decrease of Moderator
Density → Hardening of Neutron Spectrum → Decrease of Slowdown
Effect → Decrease of Nuclear Fission → Power Down

Decreasing of U-235 Cross-section

U-235 by Hardening of Neutron Spectrum
(Fission)
Cross-section (barns)

U-235
(Capture)

Hardening of Neutron Spectrum

Neutron Energy (eV)

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Void Effect BWR

Reactor Power Up

Rise of Coolant Temperature

Increase of Void Amount

Hardening of Neutron
Spectrum

Decrease of
Slowdown Effect

Decrease of Nuclear Fission

Reactor Power Down

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FISSION PRODUCT POISONING (Xe-135)

Since Xe-135 has a big Absorption Cross Section (≈3x106 barn) for
thermal neutron, it acts as poisoning on reactor operation.
Producing of Xe-135 by a nuclear fission directly is a few. (about 0.3%)
Almost of Xe-135 is generated through the following chain, which decays
of I-135 within around for 7h.
Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fission (few)

Te-135 I-135 Xe-135 Cs-135 Ba-135 (stable)

β- decay β- decay β- decay β- decay
(T1/2: 19s) (T1/2: 6.6h) (T1/2: 9.1h) (T1/2: 2x106y)

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GEN III+ Reactors

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Advanced Power Reactors (Gen III & III+)

üStandardized, simpler designs that reduce capital cost and construction
time, expedite licensing, and make the plants easier to operate and less
vulnerable to upsets;
üBetter operational flexibility for load-following, etc;
üBetter fuel efficiency, with higher burn-up to reduce fuel use and the
amount of SNF and waste;
üHigher availability and longer life – typically 60 yrs;
üMany designs incorporate passive or inherent safety features with
further reduced likelihood of core melt;
üBetter aircraft crash protection to resist radiological release

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• Westinghouse-designed Generation 3+
PWR rated at 1100 MW(e)
• Now in operation in China; design is
Advanced certified and 2 COLs for 4 units issued in
the US
Power Reactors • Simplified design with reduced number of
– AP-1000 systems and components, modular
construction and prefabrication
• Lower core outlet temperature means
reduced fuel corrosion, crud buildup, but
also lower thermal efficiency

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• Passive systems are used for emergency core

cooling, containment cooling, containment
isolation and decay heat removal.
• In-vessel core melt retention by flooding of
Advanced containment

Power Reactors
– AP-1000

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• Generation 3 BWR rated

at 1325 MW(e)
• GE-Hitachi and Toshiba
designs certified in US
Advanced • Four units operational in
Japan – four under
Power Reactors construction in Japan
and Taiwan
– ABWR • Simplified systems with
modular construction
and prefabrication –
internal pumps – no
external coolant
recirculation loops

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• General Electric-designed Generation 3+

BWR rated at 1535 Mw(e)
• Design is certified and a COL issued in the
US,
Advanced • Natural circulation cooling – no
Power Reactors recirculation pumps – 50% of the flow of
earlier BWRs
– ESBWR • Very large core and reactor vessel
• Reduced number of systems and
components – modular construction and
prefabrication
• Maximum use of passive concepts for
safety systems

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• Areva-designed Generation 3 PWR rated at

1600 Mwe
Advanced • A combination of French N4 and German
Konvoi designs
Power Reactors • Under construction in Finland, France and
– EPR China
• High thermal efficiency – economy of scale
• Design uses active safety systems with 4-
train redundancy – double wall
containment – core catcher

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• Generation 3 PWR by Westinghouse and

Mitsubishi – rated at 1538 MWe in
Advanced Japanese version and 1700 MWe in US
version
Power Reactors • US NRC DC application review now slowed,
but not halted
– APWR • Modular construction with prefabrication
• High thermal efficiency – economy of scale
• Active safety systems – 4x50% redundancy
– no double containment or core catcher

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Generation IV Power Reactors

• A class of advanced nuclear reactor systems that will offer substantial
improvements in sustainability, economics, safety and reliability,
proliferation resistance, and physical protection over existing commercial
reactors worldwide. Generation IV systems should be ready for deployment by
2030.
• Four are fast neutron reactors
• Operate at higher temperatures than today's reactors. In particular, four are
designated for hydrogen production.
• The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) was initiated by the US
Department of Energy in 2000. It is an international collective representing
governments of 13 countries where nuclear energy is significant now and also
seen as vital for the future.

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Generation IV
Power Reactors

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PWR & BWR are the most widely

used type of power reactors today
(80%_

1. Light Water Reactor (LWR)

2. Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
3. Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)
4. Operational Control of LWR Power Plant
5. Gen III+ Reactors

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Thank you!

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