Nuclear Reactor Technology, SH2702

Lecture No2

Title:
Primary Systems in Nuclear Power Plants with
BWR

Spring 2024

Nuclear Science and Engineering

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Stockholm, Sweden

1
 Outline of the Lecture
• Reactor Pressure Vessel
– RPV Internals
• Reactor Core
• Reactivity Control
• Reactor Coolant System
• Steam Separators
• Main Coolant Pumps
• Containment System
• BWR evolution

2
 Introduction
• 49 BWRs with total net electrical capacity 49.6 GWe in world-wide
operation in 2023
• 12 BWRs with capacity 12.3 GWe suspended operation
• 2 BWRs with capacity 2.65 GWe are under construction
• 52 BWRs are permanently shutdown with capacity 49.6 GWe.

• BWRs are endangered system

– they disappear
• Most BWRs shutdown in Japan after Fukushima.

• 4 types of advanced BWRs most recent designs

– ABWR-II – Advanced Boiling Water Reactor II (GE-Hitachi)
– ESBWR – Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (GE-Hitachi)
– KERNA (AREVA)
– RMWR – Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (JAEA) – with potential
for breeding thanks to hard neutron spectrum

3
 General Schematic

• BWRs are simplified to reduce capital costs

– But there is a trade-off as phenomena become more complex
• Reduced moderation water reactor
– Can be used for breeding as it has harder neutron spectrum
– There is no big interest in breeding yet.
4
 Evolution of BWR
• GE and Idaho
National Lab first
investigated
possibility to develop
a commercial BWR.

• ABWR Introduced in
1991
– Experience of BWR
operation
– Modular construction
techniques
– Safety improvements
(reduced core
damage frequency)
– Design life 60 years
– No external
Recirculation Loops;
• Reactor Internal
Pumps

5
 BWR - Evolution

• Evolution from BWR-1 to ABWR and ESBWR

• Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS)

contained in the Reactor Pressure Vessel
(RPV)

6
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• Steam drum (external steam separation)
• Multi-loop external recirculation pumps (all
core flow through the pumps)
• Dry containment
• Large core, low power density
Steam
• Plants Built Drum
Turbine
– Dresden-1,
– Big Rock Point,
– Humboldt Bay,
– Tarapur 1&2
• Operating US plants:
– none
Reactor
Vessel

BWR-1

Pump

7
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• Multi-loop external
recirculation pumps (all core
flow through the pumps)
• Variable speed recirculation
pump motors for flow control Turbine

Reactor
Vessel
• Mark I containment
BWR-2
• Large core, low power
density
Motor

• Operating US plants:
– Nine Mile -1
– Oyster Creek
• Examples of Operating Non-
Pump

US plants
– Tsuruga
8
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• 2-loop recirculation system
• Variable speed recirculation
motors
• Jet pumps Reactor
Vessel
Turbine
• Mark I containment
BWR-3
• Large core, low power density
Core Gen Motor
• Operating US plants:
– Dresden 2 & 3
Pump
– Quad Cities 1 & 2
– Monticello
– Pilgrim
• Examples of Operating Non-US
plants
– Santa Maria de Garona
– Fukushima Daiichi 1 (until 2011)

9
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• 2-loop recirculation system
• Variable speed recirculation motors
• Jet pumps
BWR-4
Reactor
• Mark I & II containments Vessel
• Large core, high power density Turbine

• Operating US plants:
– Brown’s Ferry 2 & 3
– Brunswick 1 & 2
Core Gen Motor
– Cooper, Fermi 2
– Duane Arnold, Hatch 1 & 2
– Hope Creek, Fitzpatrick
– Peach Bottom 2 & 3, Limerick 1 & 2 Pump
– Susquehanna 1 & 2
– Vermont Yankee
• Examples of Operating Non-US
plants
– Chinshan 1&2, Muehleberg
– Fukushima Daiichi 2 (untill 2011)
10
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• 2 loop recirculation system
• Flow control valves
• Jet pumps BWR-5

• Mark II containment Reactor

Vessel
• Large core, high power density Turbine

• Operating US plants:
– LaSalle 1 & 2
– Columbia Generating Station Core
– Nine Mile 2
• Examples of Operating Non-US
plants Pump
– Laguna Verde 1&2
– Tokai 2
– Fukushima Daiichi 6

11
 BWR Basic Design and Evolution
• 2 loop recirculation system
• Flow control valves
• Jet pumps BWR-6

Reactor
• Mark III containment Vessel
• Large core, higher power density Turbine

• Operating US plants:
– Grand Gulf
– Perry Core
– Clinton
– River Bend
• Examples of Operating Non-US Pump
plants
– Cofrentes
– Leibstadt
– Kuocheng 1&2

12
 BWR - Comparison

• Evolution of the design characteristics 13

 Reactor Vessels

• Reactor vessel is one of the main components

in a nuclear power plant
• Several types of reactor vessel exists
– pressure vessel (in PWR, BWR and GCR)
– in CANDU calandria is a reactor vessel
– in RBMK – a steel shell containing the reactor
core and graphite

• Reactor vessels differ in shape and orientation

– cylindrical or spherical (Magnox)
– vertical or horizontal (CANDU or PWR)
14
 ABWR - Reactor Pressure Vessel

• Diameter 7.1 m,
• Height 21m

• Pressure 7 Mpa
• Saturation
temperature
286C
– Good margin
for clad
temperature
550C

• Steam separation
at the top
– Not possible to
get CR from the
top.

15
 RPV - Forging

• ABWR RPV
forged ring
– forge – to work
heated metal
by hammering
or pressing it
into shape

• Manufacturing
by forging rings
– Plates to rings
– Rings to shell
16
 Reactor Pressure Vessel

• ABWR shell, bottom head

• Bottom head manufactured by forging from
one piece
– Penetrations machined for motors, CRGTs IGTs
17
 RPV - Installation

• Functions of
Reactor Pressure
Vessel (RPV)
– houses reactor core
(fuel)
– serves as fission
product barrier
– provides volume for
water to keep
reactor core cooled RPV installation for ABWR
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 7

18
ABWR – RPV: Thermal Sleeves

• Thermal sleeves: their function is to eliminate the risk of thermal

fatigue at the inlet of (relatively) cold feedwater to RPV
– Saturation temperature 286C
– Feedwater 215C
– 71C difference,
– thermal fatigue, cracks that can destroy steel elements in a year.
– Flow into a Sparger
• Then to downcomer

19
 BWR RPV internals
Steam
Dryer
Feedwater Sparger Steam Dryer
Steam
Separators
Core Spray
Support and Piping
Feed Water
Steam Separators
Spargers

Core Spray Piping

Upper Core Grid

Control Rod Top

Guide Tubes Guide
Main Shroud

• Safety and performance elements all in one vessel

• Internal parts are more complex than PWR.
– PWR is one through circulation
– BWR has internal circulation
20
 RPV internals
• Feedwater flows into a Steam
Dryer
Sparger then into the Feedwater Sparger Steam
downcomer Dryer Steam
Separators

Core Spray Support

and Piping
Steam
• Core spray support Feed
Water
Separators
and piping Spargers
– Used for core cooling
Core Spray
Piping
• Core shroud Upper Core Grid

– Is not separating flow

of hot and cold
coolant Control Rod
– Flow is separated by Guide Tubes Top
Guid
Main Shroud
the fuel canisters e

• Control rods (CR) -

cross inside canister.
– Boron is not used
because water boils
21
 Reactor Core
• Reactor core is the central part of the nuclear reactor
containing
– fuel,
– moderator (in thermal reactors),
– coolant and reactivity/power control elements

• The core is characterized by:

– assembly geometry (square, hexagonal, cylindrical);
– fuel form (rods, pellets, plates);
– fuel material (U metal, UO2, UO2/PuO2, UO2/ThO2, UO2/MOX);
– refueling type (on-load, off load);
– moderator material (light water, heavy water, carbon, none);
– fuel clad material (magnesium alloys, stainless steel, zirconium
alloys, advanced and composite materials, so called accident
tolerant fuel ATF);
– average fuel enrichment;
– refueling frequency (12, 18, 24 months).
22
 Reactor Core
• Reactor core is characterized by (continued):
– active core diameter and height
– number of fissile fuel assemblies/bundles
– number of fertile fuel assemblies
– fuel and moderator weight
– average core power density (ratio of the thermal
power and the volume of the core; W/m3)
– average fuel power density (ratio of the core thermal
power and the volume of the fuel; W/m3)
– average fuel specific power (ratio of the core thermal
power and the fuel mass; W/kgU)
– fuel linear heat generation rate (thermal power per
linear unit of fuel rod; W/m)
23
 BWR Fuel Assembly
• Main
components of a
BWR fuel
assembly
– 1. Top tie plate,
– 2. Fuel rods,
– 3. Channel,
– 4. Water cross,
– 5. Spacer grid,
– 6. Bottom tie
plate

24
 BWR Fuel Assemblies: GE and Westinghouse
Designs
• Flow channel is necessary to control two-phase
coolant flow.
• Orifice can be used to distribute flow
– For low power assemblies flow is restricted, not to
waste coolant flow
– With non-uniform power distribution, a uniform
coolant enthalpy distribution at the core exit can be
obtained.
• Evolution of the BWR fuel design
– Dryout on the inner pins – pins were cut off, no full
length pins
– Water cross was patented by ASEA Atom to improve
moderation
• Especially for upper part.
• Latest design Westinghouse uses water rod (not
cross)

25
 Reactivity Control
• Equipment designed to control reactivity and power
– Control rods and assemblies (for insertion into the core)
– Burnable neutron absorbers (mixed with fuel)
– Soluble absorbers (neutron absorbing material dissolved
in the moderator)
– Secondary reactivity control systems (for shutdown)

• Moderator density recirculation

– in BWRs water boils reducing moderation and making

neutron spectrum harder.
• Especially at the top of the core.
– Boiling depends on the recirculation flow.
– Thus power in BWRs can be controlled by
increasing/decreasing recirculation
26
 BWR Control Rods
• Reactivity control
– Boron only in
accident
conditions

• CRs have to be
inserted from
below.

27
 Rod Control Mechanisms

• The control rod insertion rates are designed to

be sufficient to protect (SCRAM) the reactor
against damage in all transients that are
expected to occur during the life of the
reactor.

• During normal rod motion, the control rods

must be able to move rapidly enough to
compensate for the most rapid rate at which
positive reactivity is expected to build within
the reactor in order to provide control.
28
 Rod Control Mechanisms
• The transient that is normally considered when setting
the minimum rod speed is the burnout of maximum
peak xenon while at full power.

• Xenon burnout is usually the most rapid, non-accident

transient expected.
– On a power increase after steady, low-power operation
(say from 60% to 100%) Xenon burns out rapidly while
production from iodine decay continues low.
– Reactivity increases and the control system must insert
negative reactivity to compensate.

• The maximum rod speed is normally limited in order to

reduce the severity of an accident involving the
continuous withdrawal of control rods.

29
 Rod Control Mechanisms

• Example of BWR
control rod drive
system
– System allows two
independent ways
of insertion of
control rods:
• Normal operation
with fine motion
• Hydraulic system
for fast scram

30
 Steam Generators and Drum Separators

• In BWRs, the steam generation takes place

inside of the reactor core (water evaporation
during boiling)

• The steam quality is improved in moisture

separators and steam dryers, located on top
of the reactor core

• Internal coolant circulation is provided by

pumps (jet pumps or internal reactor pumps)
to intensify the vapor generation 31
 Steam Separators and Dryers -BWR
• Temperature
difference
before/after core
10K
– From 276C to
286C
– Such small
difference is
because of the
phase change

• Steam
separators
– Employ
centrifugal force
– Still tiny droplets
remain

32
Steam Separators and Dryers -BWR

• Steam dryers
– Plates, with many
turns for the flow
• Carry Over is <0.1%
33
 Reactor Coolant System

• Reactor Coolant System (RCS) is designed to

remove heat from the reactor core during
normal operation.

• The system usually contains several parallel

loops connected to the reactor.

• In some reactors the circulation pumps are

installed inside of the reactor vessel and no
external loops are present.
34
 Reactor Coolant System

• RCS is characterized by:

– number of external reactor coolant loops
– coolant type (light water, heavy water, carbon
dioxide, sodium, helium)
– coolant weight
– operating coolant pressure
– reactor core outlet temperature
– reactor core inlet temperature
– coolant mass flow rate at rated power

35
 Reactor Coolant System

• Internal recirculation

36
 Main Coolant Pumps

• Main coolant pumps (MCP) force the coolant

to flow in a reactor circulation loop and to pass
through the reactor core
• MCP is characterized by:
– number of pumps
– number of pumps per RCS loop
– pump motor rating (the electric power input to the
pump at the normal operating parameters of the
coolant, W)
– design pressure difference (the difference
between the pump discharge pressure and the
suction pressure (MPa) 37
 Jet Pumps
• Jet pumps
– Suction into the jet
• Circulation is not equal to the
flow through the pump itself.

• Better mixing, but

– a lot of piping
• Manifold of pipes for returning
water
• A bit tricky to calculate how
much is pumped through

feed water

38
 ABWR – Internal Pumps
• Reactor Internal
Pumps (RIP)

• First introduced in
Swedish BWR-75
– eliminates external
recirculation loops
– compact
containment
design
– less pumping
power required
– flexible operation 39
 Reactor Internal Pump (BWR-75)

• Reactor Internal Pumps

(RIP)
– Submerged in water
– Maintenance free
– No problem with leakages

40
 BWR Plant Analysis

• Mass and energy balance can be formulated

for the entire reactor pressure vessel (RPV),
with separate analysis of:
– Downcomer
– Lower plenum
– Core
– Steam separators and dryers
• As a result, a consistent flow distribution in the
RPV components can be obtained.
• This can be used as an initial state for the
further transient analysis.
41
 Schematic of BWR Plant

Steam line

Main
Feed water loop

turbine
Recirculation
Jet To
loop
pump generator

Condensate
pump
Feedwater condenser
pump

• Internal flow cannot be calculated with a simple model.

42
 Energy balance in BWR
• We use the Control Volume (CV) approach to formulate the mass and energy
conservation for BWR parts
• In general, the equations are as follows:

• Mass conservation
𝑑𝑚
= ෍ 𝑊𝑗 − ෍ 𝑊𝑘
𝑑𝑡 𝐶𝑉 𝑗∈𝑖𝑛 𝑘∈𝑜𝑢𝑡
• where 𝑊𝑗 , 𝑊𝑘 - mass flow rate through 𝑗th inlet and 𝑘th outlet.

• Energy conservation
𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑇
= 𝑞 − 𝑁𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑓𝑡 + ෍ 𝑖 + 𝑒𝑃 + 𝑒𝐾 𝑗 𝑊𝑗 − ෍ 𝑖 + 𝑒𝑃 + 𝑒𝐾 𝑘 𝑊𝑘
𝑑𝑡 𝐶𝑉 𝑗∈𝑖𝑛 𝑘∈𝑜𝑢𝑡

• where 𝑒𝑇 =𝑒𝑖 + 𝑒𝑃 + 𝑒𝐾 – total specific energy of CV,

• 𝑒𝑖 + 𝑒𝑃 + 𝑒𝐾 – specific internal, potential and kinetic energy, respectively,
• 𝑚 – mass in CV,
• 𝑞 – heat/time added,
• 𝑁 – work/time extracted from CV (is negative if energy is added to the system),
• 𝑖 – specific enthalpy.

44
Energy balance in BWR
• A more detailed
mass and energy
balances can be
performed
separately in:
– downcomer (DC)
– lower plenum (LP)
– reactor core (RC)
– separator-dryers
(SD)

• see Compendium in
Thermal-Hydraulics
45
 General Equations for Steady-State

෍ 𝑊𝑗 − ෍ 𝑊𝑘 = 0
𝑗∈𝑖𝑛 𝑘∈𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑞𝑟 − 𝑁𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 + ෍ 𝑖𝑗 𝑊𝑗 − ෍ 𝑖𝑘 𝑊𝑘 = 0
𝑗∈𝑖𝑛 𝑘∈𝑜𝑢𝑡

– Where 𝑞𝑡ℎ – thermal reactor power,

– 𝑞𝑟 – thermal losses due to radiation,
– 𝑁𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 – pumping power,
– 𝑊𝑗 – mass flow rates of inlet streams with specific enthalpy 𝑖𝑗 ,
– 𝑊𝑘 – mass flow rates of outlet streams with specific enthalpy 𝑖𝑘 ,

• We (usually) neglect kinetic and potential specific energies

of inlet/outlet streams.
46
 Energy balance in BWR

• Overall energy balance for the reactor pressure

vessel

𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑁𝑃 + 𝑊𝑓𝑤 𝑖𝑓𝑤 − 𝑊𝑠 𝑖𝑠 + 𝑊𝑐𝑟 𝑖𝑐𝑟 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑐𝑙 − 𝑞𝑟 = 0

𝑞𝑡ℎ
NP

47
 Downcomer
• Mass conservation equation:
qr
𝑊𝑠𝑑 + 𝑊𝑓𝑤 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙 − 𝑊𝑑𝑐 = 0
Wsd, isd

• Energy conservation equation:

𝑊𝑠𝑑 𝑖𝑠𝑑 + 𝑊𝑓𝑤 𝑖𝑓𝑤 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑐𝑙 − 𝑊𝑑𝑐 𝑖𝑑𝑐

− 𝑞𝑟 − 𝑁𝑝 = 0

Np

Wdc, idc

48
 Lower Plenum
• Mass conservation
equation:
Wc, icin
𝑊𝑑𝑐 + 𝑊𝑐𝑟 − 𝑊𝑐 = 0

Lower Plenum
Wdc, idc
• Energy conservation LP
equation:

𝑊𝑑𝑐 𝑖𝑑𝑐 + 𝑊𝑐𝑟 𝑖𝑐𝑟 − 𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛 = 0

Wcr, icr

49
 Reactor Core
• Mass conservation
equation:
Wc, icex
𝑊𝑐 − 𝑊𝑐 = 0

Core
• Energy conservation
equation: qth

𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛 + 𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑥 = 0

Wc, icin

50
 Separators and Dryers
• Mass conservation equation:
Ws, is
𝑊𝑐 − 𝑊𝑠 − 𝑊𝑠𝑑 = 0

Steam
• Energy conservation equation: separators Wsd, isd
and dryers
𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑥 − 𝑊𝑠 𝑖𝑠 − 𝑊𝑠𝑑 𝑖𝑠𝑑 = 0

𝑖𝑠 = 1 − 𝐹𝑐𝑜 𝑖𝑔 + 𝐹𝑐𝑜 𝑖𝑓

𝑖𝑠𝑑 = 𝐹𝑐𝑢 𝑖𝑔 + 1 − 𝐹𝑐𝑢 𝑖𝑓

Wc, icex
• Where
– Carry-over 𝐹𝑐𝑜 ~0.001
– Carry-under 𝐹𝑐𝑢 ~0.0025

51
 Steam Mass Flow Rate
• The overall energy balance yields the steam mass flow
rate:

𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑞𝑟 − 𝑁𝑃 + 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑐𝑟 − 𝑖𝑐𝑙

𝑊𝑠 =
𝑖𝑠 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤

• Neglecting the effect of

– cleaning and control rod water flow, and
– assuming that the pumping power is approximately equal
to the total heat losses,
• a simplified expression is obtained:

𝑞𝑡ℎ
𝑊𝑠 ≅
𝑖𝑠 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤
52
 Steam Mass Flow Rate
• An exact expression for the steam mass flow rate can be obtained
from a simultaneous solution of all mass and energy equations in
the reactor pressure vessel components:

𝑊𝑐 𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑞𝑟 + 𝑞𝑟 𝑊𝑐𝑙 + 𝑊𝑐 𝑊𝑐𝑟 𝑖𝑐𝑟 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑠𝑑 − 𝑁𝑝 𝑊𝑐 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙

𝑊𝑠 =
𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑠 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤 + 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑠𝑑 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤

qth
NP

53
 Purpose of Balance Analysis
• The purpose of the energy and mass balances is
to find a consistent distribution of mass flows and
enthalpies in the system.

• For pressure distributions, even the momentum

equations have to be solved.

• Such calculations are performed for various

power and pressure levels.

• Any transient calculation is then initiated from

such a consistent steady-state condition.
54
 Example – Mean quality at core exit versus core flow

• (Keeping all other parameters constant)

𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑖−𝑖𝑙
• Steam quality 𝑋 = =
𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 +𝑚𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑠 −𝑖𝑙
55
 Example – Core inlet subcooling versus core flow

• (Keeping all other parameters constant)

56
 Example – BWR Balance
• Example: Calculate:
(a) the mean coolant quality at the exit from the BWR core,
(b) the coolant subcooling at the core inlet
(c) the steam flow rate from the pressure vessel at steady-state
assuming the following data:
reference pressure p = 7 MPa
core thermal power qth = 3000 MWt
radiative power loss qr = 0.1% of qc
recirculation pumping power Np = -3.23 MW
feedwater temperature tfw = 215 °C
flow rate of the control rod drive system Wcr = 65 kg/s
temperature of water flow to control rod drive system tcr = 60 °C
carryover fraction Fco = 0.001
carryunder fraction Fcu = 0.0025
coolant flow through the core Wc = 11000 kg/s

57
 Example – BWR Balance
• Solution:
For pressure p = 7 MPa, the saturation enthalpies for water and
steam are:
if = 1267.4 kJ/kg and
ig = 2772.6 kJ/kg.

The entalpy of steam leaving the reactor pressure vessel is thus:

1267.4 *0.001+ 2772.6*0.999 = 2771.1 kJ/kg.

Feedwater enthalpy is found from tables (p=7 MPa, T=215 C):

ifw = 922.2 kJ/kg.

58
 Example – BWR Balance
• Enthalpy of water returning from steam separators and dryers is
1267.4*0.9975+2772.6*0.0025=1271.2 kJ/kg.

• Substituting the data to:

𝑊𝑐 𝑞𝑡ℎ − 𝑞𝑟 + 𝑞𝑟 𝑊𝑐𝑙 + 𝑊𝑐 𝑊𝑐𝑟 𝑖𝑐𝑟 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑠𝑑 − 𝑁𝑝 𝑊𝑐 − 𝑊𝑐𝑙

𝑊𝑠 =
𝑊𝑐 𝑖𝑠 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤 + 𝑊𝑐𝑙 𝑖𝑠𝑑 − 𝑖𝑓𝑤

• we get 𝑊𝑠 = 1585.4 kg/s.

𝑊𝑠𝑑 𝑖𝑠𝑑 +𝑊𝑠 𝑖𝑠

• From: 𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑥 =
𝑊𝑐

• we get 𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑥 = 1487.4 kJ/kg, which gives exit quality 0.146.

59
 Example – BWR Balance
• Enthalpy at the core inlet is found from:

𝑞𝑐
𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛 = 𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑥 −
𝑊𝑐

• 𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛 = 1214.4 kJ/kg.

• From water property tables, the inlet coolant

temperature is found as

• T(p=7 MPa, i=1214.4 kJ/kg) = 275.8 °C

• which corresponds to 10 K subcooling.

60
 Evolution of BWR Containment in US

• From Mark-I to ABWR

- increased size,
• Larger volume of
water.

61
 Early BWR Containment Design

• Oskashamn 1 Oskashamn 2 62
 Modern BWR Containment Design

STEAM RELIEF PIPES

BLOW DOWN CHANNELS

CORE CATCHER

BWR 75 BWR 90
• The development of the BWR 90 started in 1986 as a review of the `lessons learned' from previous
plant projects; in particular, from designing and commissioning the Forsmark 3 and Oskarshamn 3.
• Design focus on detailed analyses of severe accident sequences, further improvement of the
containment, procedures, digitized control, and optimization of plant construction.

63
 Modern BWR Containment Design

BWR 75
BWR 90

• BWR 90 design was offered to Finland, as one of the

contenders for the fifth Finnish nuclear power plant project.
64
 Building Evolution from ABWR to ESBWR

• Passive safety
systems.
• 50% of reduction of
building volume in
ESBWR compared
to ABWR

65