UNIT –III

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Nuclear Energy
Energy from disintegrating atomic nuclei has a tremendous potential to do good for
the people of the world. We routinely use X-rays to examine for fractures, treat
cancer with radiation and diagnose disease with the use or radioactive isotopes.
About 17% of the energy in the world comes from nuclear power plants.
 History of Nuclear Energy
Development
• The first controlled fission of an atom occurred in
1938 in Germany
• The US was the first to develop an atomic bomb
• In 1945, the US military dropped bombs on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• During the 50 years following WWII, the two major
super powers conducted secret projects related to
the building and testing bombs
• A legacy of the military research is that a great
deal of soil, water, and air are contaminated with
radioactive material (Hanford, Savannah River
sites).
Atomic structure – Atoms are fundamental subunits of matter. Matter is anything
that takes up space and has mass. Air, water, trees, cement, and gold are examples
of matter.
H2O

All atoms have a central region know as the

nucleus, which is composed of two kinds of
relatively heavy particles: positively charged
particles called protons and uncharged Figure 4.2 diagram of oxygen
particles called neutrons. Surrounding the
nucleus is a cloud of relatively light weight,
fast moving, negatively charged particles
called electrons. The atoms of each element
differ in the number of protons, neutrons,
and electrons present.
Isotopes
• All atoms of the same element have the same
number of protons and electrons but the
number of neutrons may differ.
• Atoms of the same element that differ in the
number of neutrons are called isotopes.
• Since the positively charged protons in the
nucleus repel one another energy is needed
to hold the protons and neutrons together.
• However, some isotopes of some atoms are
radioactive, that is the nucleus of these atoms
are unstable and decompose. Neutrons,
electrons, and protons are released during
this decomposition releasing a great deal of
energy. Half-life… ½ of radioactive material to
decompose
Only certain kinds of atoms are suitable for the development of a nuclear chain
reaction. The two materials most commonly used are uranium-235 and plutonium-
239.
To appreciate the consequences of using nuclear fuels to
generate energy it is important to recognize the nuclear fuel
cycle. Mining produces low grade uranium ore. The ore
contains 0.2 % uranium by weight. After it is mined, the ore
goes through a milling process. It is crushed and treated with
a solvent to concentrate the uranium. Milling produces
yellow-cake, a material containing 70-90% uranium oxide.
Naturally occurring uranium ore contains about 99.3%
nonfissionable U-238 and only 0.7% fissionable U235 (the
U235 is the uranium isotope needed in nuclear reactors).
This concentration of U-235 is not high enough for most
types of reactors, so the amount of U-235 must be increased
by enrichment. Since the masses of the isotopes U-235 and
U-238 vary only slightly, enrichment is a difficult and
expensive process. However, enrichment increases the U-
235 content from 0.7% to 3%.
Fuel fabrication converts the enriched material into a powder,
which is then compacted into pellets about the size of a
pencil eraser. These pellets are sealed in metal rods about 4
meters (13.2 feet) in length, which are then loaded into the
reactor (of course the enrichment and fabrication generally
do not occur at the reactor so these enriched rods have to
be transported to the site of the reactors).
As fission occurs, the concentration of U-235 decreases.
After about three years a fuel rod does not have enough
radioactive material to sustain a chain reaction so the
rods must be replaced by new ones. The spent rods are
still very radioactive, containing about 1 percent of the U-
235 and 1 percent plutonium. These rods are the major
source of radioactive waste material.
You may have heard about the US and nuclear
inspectors looking for aluminum rods in Iraq. Some
countries with nuclear reactors try, through
centrifugation, to extract the plutonium so it can be used
in nuclear weapons. This is a current concern with North
Korea. The US has known that the North Koreans had
used rods in a pool at one of their plants. Apparently,
during the recent visit by the group of citizens they were
shown the pool but it contained no spent rods.
 Nuclear Fusion
The energy that would be released by combining the deuterium in
one cubic meter of ocean water would be greater than that
contained in all of the world’s entire fossil fuels. Even though in
theory fusion promises to furnish large amounts of energy, technical
difficulties appear to prevent its commercial use in the near future.
Even the governments of nuclear nations are budgeting only modest
amounts of money for fusion research. And, as with nuclear fission
and the breeder reactor, economic costs and fear of accidents may
A slow moving neutron induces
fission in Uranium 235
 Expanding Chain Reaction
• The fission reaction
produces more
neutrons which can
then induce fission in
other Uranium atoms.
• Mouse Trap Chain
Reaction
 Linear Chain Reaction
• Obviously, an expanding chain reaction cannot
be sustained for long (bomb). For controlled
nuclear power, once we reach our desired
power level we want each fission to produce
exactly one additional fission
 Tricks of the trade
• Slow moving (thermal) neutrons are more
effective at inducing fission, but, fissions
produce fast moving electron. We need to
slow neutrons down.
• Fissions typically produce several
neutrons but a linear chain reaction only
needs one. We need to get rid of a good
fraction of our neutrons.
 Moderator
• Neutrons are slowed
down by having them
collide with light atoms
(Water in US
reactors).
• Highest level of
energy transfer occurs
when the masses of
the colliding particles
are equal (ex: neutron
and hydrogen)
 Control Rods
• Control rods are
made of a material
that absorbs excess
neutrons (usually
Boron or Cadmium).
• By controlling the
number of neutrons,
we can control the
rate of fissions
 Basic Ideas
• The Uranium is both the fuel and the
source of neutrons.
• The neutrons induce the fissions
• The Water acts as both the moderator and
a heat transfer medium.
• Control rods regulate the energy output by
“sucking up” excess neutrons
 Practicalities
• Processing of Uranium
• Each ton of Uranium ore
produces 3-5 lbs of
Uranium compounds
• Uranium ore is processed
near the mine to produce
“yellow cake”, a material
rich in U3O8.
• Only 0.7% of U in yellow
cake is 235U. Most of the
rest is 238U which does not
work for fission power.
World Distribution of Uranium
 Enrichment
• To be used in US
reactors, fuel must be
3-5% 235U.
• Yellow cake is
converted into UF6
and this compound is
enriched using
gaseous diffusion
and/or centrifuges.
• There are some
reactor designs that
run on pure yellow
cake.
 Fuel Pellets
• The enriched UF6 is
converted into UO2
which is then made into
fuel pellets.
• The fuel pellets are
collected into long
tubes. (~12ft).
• The fuel rods are
collected into bundles
(~200 rods per bundle
• ~175 bundles in the
core
 Cladding
• The material that the
fuel rods are made
out of is called
cladding.
• It must be permeable
to neutrons and be
able to withstand high
heats.
• Typically cladding is
made of stainless
steel or zircaloy.
 Controlling the chain reaction
depends on
• Arrangement of the fuel/control rods
• Quality of the moderator
• Quality of the Uranium fuel
• Neutron energy required for high
probability of fission
• Two common US
reactor types: Boiling
Water Reactor and
Pressurized Water
Reactor.
• BWR: P=1000 psi
T=545F
• PWR P=2250 psi
T=600F
• PWR is most common
and is basis of marine
nuclear power.
Reactor is inside a large
containment building
Nuclear Reactors
A nuclear reactor is a device that permits a controlled fission chain reaction. In
the reactor, neutrons are used to cause a controlled fission of heavy atoms such as
Uranium 235 (U-235). U-235 is a uranium isotope used to fuel nuclear fission
reactors.
 The heat
generated by
the fission of or
uranium
releases energy
that heats water
to produce
steam to turn
turbines to
generate
electricity.

Cooling Tower

In addition to fuel rods containing uranium, reactors contain control rods of

cadmium, boron, graphite, or some other non-fissionable material used to
control the rate fission by absorbing neutrons. Lowering the rods decreases
the rate of reaction.
 Natural Draft
Hyperbolic Cooling
Towers

Containment Structure
 The light water
reactors (LWR) make
up 90% of the reactors
operating today, use
ordinary water as the
moderator and as the
coolant. The BWR and
PWR are light water
reactors. In a BWR (20%
Emergency core of reactors in the world).
cooling system
Steam is formed within
the reactor and
transferred directly to
the turbine.
The steam must be treated and the generating building must be shielded. In the
PWR (70% of reactors in the world) the water is kept under high pressure so that
steam is not formed in the reactor. Such an arrangement reduces the risk of
radiation in the steam but adds to the cost of construction by requiring a secondary
loop for the steam generator.
 Other Options
• Other countries use different reactor designs.
• Some use heavy water (D2O) as a moderator.
Some use Graphite as a moderator.
• Some are designed to use pure yellow cake
without further enrichment
• Liquid metal such as sodium or gasses such as
Helium are possibilities to use for coolants
 Breeder Reactors
• A big problem with nuclear power is the
creation of Plutonium in the reactor core.
• This is a long lived radioactive element
that is difficult to store.
• Q: Why not use it as a fuel too?
 Basic Idea
• Process that creates the Pu.
• During fission use one of the extra neutrons to
create a Pu atom

n U  U
238
92
239
92
239
92U 23  Np 
min 239
93
0
1


239
93 Np 2  Pu 
.4 days
239
94
0
1

• Somewhat difficult in that we want fast
neutrons to “breed” the 239Pu out of the
238U, but we want slow neutrons to induce

the fission of 235U.

• Requires a different design of reactor.
• Doubling time: Time required to produce
twice as many 239Pu atoms as 235U
destroyed. A good design will have a 6-10
doubling time.
• There are no currently operating breeder
reactors in the US.
 Chernobyl is a small
city in Ukraine near
the border with
Belarus, north of Kiev.
At 1 A.M. on April 25,
1986, at Chernobyl
Nuclear Power
Station-4, a test was
begun to measure the
amount of electricity
that a still spinning
turbine would
produce if the steam
were shut off. This
information because the emergency core coolingwas system required
important
energy for its operation and the coasting turbine could provide some of
that energy until another source became available. But the test was
delayed because of a demand for electricity, and a new shift of workers
came on duty.
The operators failed to program the computer to maintain power at
700 megawatts, and output dropped to 30 megawatts. This
presented an immediate need to rapidly increase the power, and
many of the control rods were withdrawn. Meanwhile, an inert gas
(xenon) had accumulated on the fuel rods. The gas absorbed the
neutrons and slowed the rate of power increase. In an attempt to
obtain more power, operators withdrew all the control rods. This
was a second safety violation.
At 1 AM on April 26, the operators shut off most emergency
warning signals and turned on all eight pumps to provide adequate
cooling for the reactor following the completion of the test. Just as
final stages of the test were beginning, a signal indicated an
excessive reaction in the reactor. In spite of the warning, the
operators blocked the automatic reactor shut down and began the
test.
As the test continued, the power output of the reactor rose beyond
its normal level and continued to rise. The operators activated the
emergency system designed to put the control rods back into the
The core had already
deformed, and the rods would
not fit properly: the reaction
could not be stopped. In 4.5
seconds the energy level of the
reactor increased 2000 times.
The fuel rods ruptured, the
cooling water turned into
steam, and a steam
explosion occurred. The lack
of cooling water allowed the
reactor to explode. The
explosion blew the 1102 ton
In less than 10 seconds, Chernobyl became the
concrete roof off the reactor
scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident.
and the reactor caught on fire.
It took 10 days to bring the runaway reaction
under control. By November, the damaged
reactor was entombed in a hastily built concrete
covering that may have critical flaws. A 2nd
containment is planned.
The immediate consequences were 31 fatalities, 500 persons hospitalized, including
237 with acute radiation sickness; and 116,000 people were evacuated. More than a
year after the disaster at Chernobyl, the decontamination of 27 cities and villages was
considered finished. That does not mean they were safe just that all practical
measures had been completed. Some areas were simply abandoned. The largest city
to be affected was Pripyat which had a population of 50,000 and was only 4
kilometers from the reactor. A new town was built to accommodate those displaced by
the accident and Pripyat remains a ghost town. Seventeen years after the accident
some scientists believe the worst is yet to come. Compared to the general public
(control) the rates of some noncancer diseases, endocrine disorders, and stroke for
instance appears to be rising disproportionately among the roughly 600,000
“liquidators” who cleaned up the heaviest contamination in the plant’s vicinity.
Whether people who live in the shadow of Chernobyl remain at risk is an intensely
debated question now.
One impact of Chernobyl is that it deepened public concern about the safety of
nuclear reactors. Even before Chernobyl, between 1980 and 1986, the governments
of Australia, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, and New Zealand had officially
adopted a “no nuclear” policy. Since 1980, 10 countries have cancelled nuclear plant
orders or mothballed plants under construction. Argentina canceled 4 plants, Brazil
8, Mexico 18, and the US, 54. There have been no orders for new plants in the US
since 1974. Sweden, Austria, Germany, and the Phillipines have decided to phase
out and dismantle their nuclear power plants.
Decommissioning Costs
Decommissioning a a fossil fuel plant is relatively easy a wrecking ball is about all
that is required. Nuclear power plants are not demolished they are decommissioned.
Decommissioning involves removing the fuel, cleaning the surfaces, and
permanently preventing people from coming in contact with the contaminated
buildings and equipment.
Liquid Metal Fast Breeder
Reactors
Overview of Fast Breeder Reactors
• Produce more fissile material than is consumed

• Technology first developed in the 1950’s

• Utilize uranium 60 times as efficienctly as PWRs

• Cooled by liquid metal

 Fast Breeder Reactors vs. Pressurized Water
Reactors

• FBR • PWR
– Fuel is enriched to 15- – Fuel is enriched to 3-
20% 5%
– Moderator: none – Moderator: water
– Heat transfer by liquid – Heat transfer by water
metal or metal alloys – Reactor under high
• Typically sodium pressure
– Reactor under low – Fissile material is only
pressure consumed
– ~1.2 fissile atoms
produced per fission
 Breeding Fuel
• Theory • Practice
– Each fission produces – Typical FBR produces
on average 2.4 about 1.2 fissile atoms
neutrons per consumed fissile
• Fissile material: U-235, atom
Pu-239 or Pu-241 – Can produce enough
– Critical reaction fissile material in 10
• One neutron per fission years to replace spent
causes another fission fuel and enough to
– 1.4 neutrons are left power another reactor
over to enrich depleted for 10 years
fuel
FBR Design
1) Highly enriched uranium
or plutonium
2) Control rods (same
material as core)
3) Depleted uranium
4) Heat is transferred from
primary to secondary
sodium
5) Heat is transferred from
secondary sodium to
water
 Nuclear Fuel
• Initially FBRs were designed to use pure
uranium oxide fuel
• Eventually switched to MOX
– Mixed oxide fuel (MOX):
• Mixture of UO2 and PuO2
 Liquid Metal Coolant
• Typical metal used is sodium
– Some reactors use lead, lead-bismuth alloy, or
sodium fluoride salt
• Advantages of sodium
– Low melting temperature (98°C)
– High boiling temperature (892°C)
– High heat capacity
– System can run at low pressure
• Risks of sodium
– Burns when it comes in contact with air or water
– Poisonous fumes
 FBRs Today
Output Mwe Operation
• Only six active today
USA

EBR 1 0.2 1951-63 – Half of these are in Russia

EBR 2 20 1963-94

Fermi 1 66 1963-72

SEFOR 20 1969-72
• Average lifespan of reactors is
Fast Flux TF N/A 1980-93 only about 20 years
UK

Dounreay FR 15 1959-77
– Many shut down prematurely
Prototype FR 270 1974-94 – Superphenix (France) and
France KNK 2 (Germany) were never
Rapsodie N/A 1966-82 operational
Phenix 250 1973-Now

Superphenix 1 1240 1985-98

Germany • Plagued by political

KNK 2

India
21 1977-91
controversy
FBTR N/A 1985-Now

Japan

Joyo N/A 1978-Now

• Only one notable accident
Monju 280 1994-96, 08? – Monju (Japan) in 1995
Kazakhstan
– A pipe carrying secondary
BN350 135 1972-99

Russia
sodium ruptured
BR 5/10 N/A 1959-71, 1973-Now

BOR 60 12 1969-Now

BOR 600 600 1980-Now Table: World Nuclear Association, June 2006
 Future of Fast Breeders
• Next generation may use noble gases
such as helium or argon instead of sodium
• Increase in the breeding ratio
– Believed that a ratio of 1.3 will be possible
• Smaller reactors
– Lower maintenance and repair costs
• Higher reactor temperatures
– Can be used for thermochemical hydrogen
production
 Nuclear Waste

• Recently nuclear power has entered many discussions as world energy

needs rise and oil reserves diminish.
• Most opponents of nuclear power point to two main arguments:
meltdowns and nuclear waste.
• Nuclear waste is any form of byproduct or end product that releases
radioactivity.
• How to safely dispose of nuclear waste is pivotal for the continued
operation of nuclear power plants, safety of people living around dump
sites, and prevention of proliferation of nuclear materials to non-
nuclear states.
Nuclear Waste
 Classifications

• Nuclear waste is segregated into several classifications.

• Low level waste is not dangerous but sometimes
requires shielding during handling.
• Intermediate level waste typically is chemical sludge
and other products from reactors.
• High level waste consists of fissionable elements from
reactor cores and transuranic wastes.
• Transuranic waste is any waste with transuranic alpha
emitting radionuclides that have half-lives longer than
20 years.
 Low Level Waste (LLW)
Low level waste is any waste that could be from a high activity area.
90% volume of waste
It does not necessarily carry any radioactivity.
Split into four catagories: A, B, C, and GTCC.

Intermediate Level Waste (ILW)

Intermediate level waste requires shielding when being handled.
7% volume of waste
Dependent on the amount of activity it can be buried in shallow
repositories.
High Level Waste (HLW)
High level waste has a large amount of radioactive activity and is
thermally hot.
3% volume of waste
95% of radioactivity
Current levels of HLW are increasing about 12,000 metric tons
per year.
Most HLW consists of Pu-238, 239, 240, 241, 242, Np-237, U-236

Transuranic Waste (TRUW)

Transuranic waste consists of all waste that has radio nuclides
above uranium.
TRUWs typically have longer half-lives than other forms of
waste.
Typically a byproduct of weapons manufacturing
 Creation of Nuclear Waste
• Nuclear waste is generated at all points of the fuel cycle.
• Front end waste consists primarily of low level alpha
emission waste.
• Service period waste typically includes LLW and ILW
such as contaminated reactor housings and waste from
daily operation.
• Back end waste normally is the most radioactive and
includes spent fuel rods and reactor cores.
 Front End Waste
• Front end waste consists mostly of LLW and ILW.
• The primary front end waste is depleted uranium and
radium.
– DU has several uses due to its high density (19,050
kg/m3).
– Mix with uranium to form reactor fuel

Service Period Waste

• Consists of mostly ILW.
• Mostly waste produced at the plant during normal operation.
• Spent fuel rods are the most dangerous waste produced
during the service period.
 Back End Waste
• Nuclear waste developed during the back end of the fuel
cycle is the most dangerous and includes most of the HLW
produced.
• Most back end waste emits both gamma and beta particles.
• Also uranium-234, neptunium-237, plutonium-238 and
americium-241are found in back end waste.

Waste Management (LLW)

• There are several options available for the disposal of
LLW due to its lack of radioactivity.
• Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
• On-site disposal
 Treatment Waste
(LLW) Management
(HLW)
• Filtration • Most common utilized
• Ion Exchange option are reactor pools
and dry cask storage.
• Evaporation • Other Options for waste
• Incineration management include:
• Compaction – Deep Geologoical
• Solidification Storage
– Transmutation
– Reuse
– Launching it into space
 Treatment
• Most common initial treatment of waste is vitrification.
– Waste is first mixed with sugar and then passed
through a heated tube to de-nitrite the material.
– This material is then fed into a furnace and mixed with
glass.
– The molten glass mixture is poured into steel cylinders
and welded shut.
• Mid level active waste is commonly treated with ion
exchange
• Process reduces the bulk volume of radioactive
material.
• Typically, mixed with concrete for a solid storage
form.